NFL Coach Power Rankings: Where Jay Gruden fits in among the 32 coaches

There are occasions in which retread hires can work. The Kansas City Chiefs and Andy Reid are a shining example of that over the past five seasons. But bringing back Jon Gruden seems like a massive mistake by the Raiders.

There’s no doubting that in his heyday, Jon Gruden was one of the better coaches in the NFL. He famously was traded by the Oakland Raiders to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then proceeded to lead that squad to a Super Bowl title. He did that with Brad Johnson at the helm, and that made it all the more impressive.

That said, the Super Bowl Gruden won was in 2003. That was 15 years ago. And the last time that Gruden was on the sideline as a head coach was in 2008. He led the Buccaneers to a second straight 9-7 season, but suffered four consecutive losses to close the year. Following that, he was fired. And he hasn’t coached since.

As many know, Gruden has spent the better part of the past 10 years working for ESPN as the Monday Night Football color commentator. He did a bit of coaching through his series “Gruden’s QB Camp,” but he primarily has been in the box. That’s what makes this move such an interesting one.

There’s no doubting that Gruden is an excellent motivator. And when he was a coach in the NFL, he did have one of the brightest offensive minds. But again, that was over a decade ago. The last time he had a top 10 offense in terms of yardage was 2003. And his last top 10 scoring offense came in 2001. It’s a stretch to wonder if Gruden will be able to find success in the modern NFL.

Because of the changes to the game, and particularly in terms of passing, older NFL coaches have been swallowed up by the new wave of young, innovative offensive minds. This is why coaches who were once thought to be good, such as Jeff Fisher and John Fox, struggled immensely in their final years in the league. I’m not saying that Gruden will fall into that category, but if he can’t keep up with the major changes that have occurred in the past 10 years, it will be hard for him to stick around.

That said, Gruden has done a solid job of surrounding himself with good coordinators and solid offensive minds to help take some of the pressure off. Notably, offensive coordinator Greg Olson has been a quarterback guru during his time in the league, and that could do a lot to help Derek Carr improve. That is a major plus for Gruden.

Still, it’s fair to be skeptical of what Gruden will be able to accomplish. He might be a good coach, but he’s definitely being overpaid and there’s no guarantee that he will work out. Watching his performance in the early going of the 2018 season will be fun. But for now, we have him ranked towards the bottom of the league, solely because he’s been out of coaching for so long.