Jon Gruden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jon Gruden | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | August 17, 1963 (age 43) |
| Place of birth |  Sandusky, Ohio |
| Position(s) | Head Coach |
| College | Dayton |
| Career Record | 77-67-0 (Regular Season) 5-3 (Postseason) 82-70-0 (Overall) |
| Super Bowl Wins |
2002 Super Bowl XXXVII |
| Championships Won |
NFC Championship (2002) |
| Coaching Stats | Pro Football Reference |
| Coaching Stats | DatabaseFootball |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1986-1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993-1994 1995-1997 1998-2001 2002-present |
University of Tennessee (graduate assistant) Southeast Missouri State University (quarterbacks coach) University of Pacific (wide receivers coach) San Francisco 49ers (offensive assistant) University of Pittsburgh (wide receivers coach) Green Bay Packers (offensive assistant) Green Bay Packers (wide receivers coach) Philadelphia Eagles (offensive coordinator) Oakland Raiders (head coach) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (head coach) |
Jon Gruden (born August 17, 1963 in Sandusky, Ohio) is the head coach of the NFL (National Football Conference) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers, or "Bucs," won Super Bowl XXXVII in the team's first year under Gruden's tenure, making him the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl.
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[edit] College
Gruden attended college in his native Ohio at the University of Dayton, where he played quarterback and graduated with a degree in Communications. By his own admission, Gruden was no star player. However, his meticulous preparation for games inspired his coach to allow him use of the video equipment and game tapes, which he used to prepare motivational videos for the team. This tactic is still in heavy use in his coaching today, and many of his players credit these videos for helping them mentally prepare for upcoming big games.
[edit] Early career
Gruden started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee during the 1986 season. He found his way as the quarterbacks coach at Southeast Missouri State for two years. He then made a smooth transition to University of Pacific in 1989 as offensive assistant. He became the wide-receivers coach for the University of Pittsburgh in 1991.
[edit] Pro career
In 1990, Gruden's father Jim set up an interview with Mike Holmgren who was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. Gruden impressed Holmgren with is knowledge of the game for such a young man. Holmgren hired Gruden as one of the first quality control coaches in the NFL.
He quickly ascended through the ranks of NFL coaching by learning, implementing, and improving the famous West Coast offense pioneered by longtime NFL coach Bill Walsh. When Holmgren left the 49ers to become head coach of the Green Bay Packers In 1992, he took the promising young Gruden with him to become the team's wide receivers coach. After three seasons in Green Bay, Gruden moved on to become the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles under former Packers assistant coach Ray Rhodes. Gruden then was chosen by the legendary owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, to be the Raiders' new head coach for the 1998 season.
After compiling a 40-28 win-loss record in four seasons with the Raiders, Gruden replaced the fired Tony Dungy as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, via a high-stakes trade that included Tampa Bay's 2002 and 2003 first- and second-round draft picks and $8 million in cash. The trade took place for a number of reasons, including Gruden's desire to run his own organization, Davis' desire for a more vertical passing attack rather than Gruden's horizontal pass attack, the fact that Gruden's contract would expire a year after the trade, and Davis' uncertainty over whether Gruden was worth as much money as his next contract was sure to pay him.
The Bucs' search had taken more than two months, and had proven to be a major embarrassment to the Buccaneer organization. Tampa Bay had expressed an interest in Gruden, but Davis had originally refused to release him from his contract. The team subsequently interviewed several other coaches and believed a deal was in place with Bill Parcells, before Parcells backed out. With the franchise's search floundering, the coach they wanted having only one year remaining on his deal, and the immediate hire of Dungy by the Indianapolis Colts, many fans and sports commentators began to openly question if the Bucs had made the right move by dismissing Dungy. Only a big splash hire could quiet the storm, and this may have been the primary motivation for the Bucs to give up as much as they did to acquire Gruden.
Immediately after arriving in Tampa, Gruden significantly retooled the offense with the addition of numerous free agents. His determination to fix the under performing offense so often maligned during Dungy's tenure inspired the Bucs defense to another #1 ranking, which helped the team to a 15-4 season and a win over Gruden's old team in Super Bowl XXXVII. Despite the impressive Super Bowl win, there were many people--including players on the Buccaneers like Warren Sapp and a number of sports analysts--who attributed Gruden's win primarily to the smothering defense that coach Tony Dungy had created during his tenure with the Bucs, ignoring the major revamping that Gruden did on the offensive side of the ball. Nevertheless, Gruden publicly and graciously thanked Dungy for his contributions upon accepting the Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl XXXVII postgame ceremony. He also wore a mic for NFL Films and uttered his famous quote about the Raiders, "They're (The Raiders) draggin' ass!"
His mantra for the 2002 season was "Pound the Rock", a reference to never giving up. Gruden even went as far as to display a large chunk of marble in the locker room, a tactic mimicked by the Jacksonville Jaguars. (Their slogan, "Keep choppin' wood", was tainted when punter Todd Sauerbraun injured his leg on an axe brought in to accompany a large log.) Upon returning to Tampa after winning Super Bowl XXXVII, he led a capacity crowd at Raymond James Stadium in chanting the phrase. However, it seemingly disappeared from the lexicon the following year, and was not aggressively marketed or displayed on stadium video boards.
In the two years following Gruden's Super Bowl win, the Bucs went 7-9 and 5-11 respectively, confirming to many Dungy supporters that Gruden simply took over an emerging and strong team from Dungy and then drove it into the ground with the acquisition of aging veterans who could no longer perform. However, the high draft picks sacrificed by the team to acquire Gruden, along with salary cap issues predicated by the now-departed Rich McKay, with whom Gruden had an acrimonious relationship, limited Gruden's ability to field the teams he wanted after that successful Super Bowl-winning season.
When former Raiders general manager Bruce Allen joined the Bucs in 2004, Gruden finally had the general manager/head coach partnership he desired, and their past two drafts have yielded a number of impact players, including 2005 Offensive NFL Rookie of the Year Award winner Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. 2005 also marked a return to the playoffs, as the Bucs' posted a surprising 11-5 record, despite the loss of starting quarterback Brian Griese and some controversial coaching decisions, including a two-point conversion in the final seconds to defeat the Washington Redskins, who would later return to Tampa and eliminate the Bucs from the wild-card round of the playoffs.
In 2006, Gruden led the Buccaneers to a 4-12 season. It was his worst record as a head coach and the first time a Tampa Bay team had not won more than 4 games since 1991.
[edit] Questions about Gruden's future in Tampa
In an interview with Ira Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune on March 28, 2007 Bucs executive vice president Joel Glazer discussed the state of the Bucs. During the interview, Joel Glazer defended Gruden's performance, citing lost draft picks, injuries, and salary cap issues. However, he also said "Mediocrity will never be standard for the Buccaneers, but we have to move on."[1]
[edit] Career record
| Franchise | Season | Wins | Losses | Ties | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 1998 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| Oakland Raiders | 1999 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| Oakland Raiders | 2000 | 12 | 4 | 0 | Won Divisional 27-0 (Miami Dolphins) Lost Conference Championship 16-3 (Baltimore Ravens) |
| Oakland Raiders | 2001 | 10 | 6 | 0 | Won Wild Card 38-24 (New York Jets) Lost Divisional 16-13 OT (New England Patriots) |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2002 | 12 | 4 | 0 | Won Divisional 31-6 (San Francisco 49ers) Won Conference Championship 27-10 (Philadelphia Eagles) Won Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21 (Oakland Raiders) |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2003 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2004 | 5 | 11 | 0 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2005 | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Wild Card 17-10 (Washington Redskins) |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2006 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| Totals | 77 | 67 | 0 | 5-3 | |
[edit] Family
Gruden grew up in a football household as a Buccaneers fan, as his father Jim was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' running backs coach in 1982-83, and later served as director of player personnel from 1984 to 1986. Though he still lived in Tampa, Jim Gruden later served as a talent scout for the San Francisco 49ers.
Gruden and his wife, Cindy, have three sons, Jon II, Michael, and Jayson. Gruden's younger brother Jay, is a former starting quarterback and current head coach of the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. Jay has also served as an offensive assistant on the Buccaneers staff, and won multiple championships as the starting quarterback of the AFL's Tampa Bay Storm.
Jon and Jay share the unfortunate distinction of having both been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Jon's arrest came in Pleasanton, California on October 11, 1998, when he was detailed with a 0.10 blood alcohol level while he was head coach of the Raiders. He ultimately plead no contest to a lesser charge of alcohol-related reckless driving, paid a $750 file and served no jail time. [1] Jay was arrested in Tampa on September 16, 2005, also with a blood alcohol level of 0.10. [2] A third brother, Jim Jr., works as a radiologist in New York City.
[edit] Miscellany
- Gruden's short stature and his tendency to make angry facial expressions at games has given him the nickname "Chucky," as he has an uncanny resemblance to the killer doll in the Child's Play series of movies.
- Gruden is also known to use extensive verbiage in his playbook.
- Gruden's choice of headwear has revitalized a previously nonexistent wardrobe item: the visor. He is seen at virtually every practice and game in Buccaneer sun visors, and even hands them out to visiting sports writers to help shield them from the Florida heat.
[edit] References
- ^ Mediocrity Will Not Be Accepted Around Here. The Tampa Tribune. Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Joe Bugel |
Oakland Raiders Head Coaches 1998–2001 |
Succeeded by Bill Callahan |
| Preceded by Tony Dungy |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coaches 2002–present |
Succeeded by Current coach |
| Preceded by Bill Belichick |
Super Bowl winning Head Coaches Super Bowl XXXVII, 2003 |
Succeeded by Bill Belichick |
| Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders Head Coaches |
|---|
| Erdelatz • Feldman • Conkright • Davis • Rauch • Madden • Flores • Shanahan • Shell • White • Bugel • Gruden • Callahan • Turner • Shell • Kiffin |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coaches |
|---|
| McKay • Bennett • Perkins • Williamson • Wyche • Dungy • Gruden |
| Current Head Coaches of the National Football League | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Cameron (Miami) | Lewis (Cincinnati) | Dungy (Indianapolis) | Edwards (Kansas City) |
| Belichick (New England) | Crennel (Cleveland) | Del Rio (Jacksonville) | Kiffin (Oakland) |
| Mangini (NY Jets) | Tomlin (Pittsburgh) | Fisher (Tennessee) | Turner (San Diego) |
| National Football Conference | |||
| East | North | South | West |
| Phillips (Dallas) | Smith (Chicago) | Petrino (Atlanta) | Whisenhunt (Arizona) |
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Categories: 1963 births | Living people | American football quarterbacks | Dayton Flyers football players | Dayton Flyers football coaches | Tennessee Volunteers football coaches | Pacific Tigers football coaches | Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches | San Francisco 49ers coaches | Green Bay Packers coaches | Philadelphia Eagles coaches | Oakland Raiders coaches | Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches | People from Sandusky, Ohio | NFL offensive coordinators
