Jon Gruden, the previous NFL coach who resigned in 2021 amid controversy over offensive emails, has made it clear he needs again on the sidelines. However teaching faculty soccer within the vaunted SEC? Gruden says he would soar on the probability.
“The one cause I actually got here right here is I need to coach once more,” Gruden mentioned throughout a talking engagement with the Georgia Bulldogs. “I am being sincere with you, I don’t bullshit, both. I need to coach once more. I would die to teach within the SEC. I’d adore it. I’d f—ing adore it.”
Gruden opened up about his life since resigning from the Las Vegas Raiders in October 2021 throughout an intensive interview with CBS Sports activities in September 2024, during which he revealed staying largely out of the general public eye and dedicating a lot of his time to learning recreation movie and mentoring gamers privately. He then joined Barstool Sports activities the next month in November 2024.
Regardless of the controversy that ended his NFL teaching profession, Gruden has repeatedly expressed a powerful want to return to teaching — this time on the faculty stage. To arrange for that risk, he has been actively educating himself on the fashionable nuances of faculty soccer — together with the switch portal, NIL offers and recruiting methods, all of which have dramatically modified the panorama since his final faculty position as a large receivers coach at Pittsburgh in 1991.
A number of faculty athletic administrators acknowledged to CBS Sports activities final fall that whereas Gruden’s previous stays a big hurdle, there could possibly be alternatives for him at some colleges, notably these outdoors the Energy 4 prepared to take calculated dangers.
But, the thought of him teaching within the SEC — arguably essentially the most aggressive and scrutinized faculty soccer convention — provides layers of complexity. SEC directors have described Gruden as “untouchable” at that stage as a consequence of potential backlash over his unceremonious exit for the revealing of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic emails.
Nonetheless, Gruden’s ardour for the sport stays evident, and he clearly sees faculty soccer as the very best avenue for a training comeback.
“I’ll inform you guys this: What I do know in regards to the SEC is it is getting tougher,” Gruden mentioned. “The SEC’s getting tougher. They inform me Texas is within the SEC — oh! They inform me Oklahoma’s within the SEC … You already know who your largest opponent is — you. You are your largest opponent. Ego. That is your largest opponent. Greed, jealousy, your cellular phone. You guys dig it. You bought to be sure you’re accountable for you. You carry your greatest self in right here each night time, and you will see how nice you’ll be able to change into.”
Whereas questions nonetheless stay about whether or not any faculty program will take the chance of hiring Gruden, his dedication to teaching and readiness to adapt to the faculty recreation is evident — and the SEC appears to be the final word proving floor he craves.
