alum96

October 8th, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^

If we are going with media guys we have zero chance with might as well go Cowher with his Pittsburgh background, midwest attitude, intimidating glare, and being in a NFL franchise reknown for defense and development. 

But the chances for both are somewhere between landing both Harbaughs.

RagingBean

October 8th, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^

I think he's said before that he always dreamed of coaching on of Michigan, Ohio State, or Notre Dame. Grew up in love with the big Midwestern football programs. He thought about being Chip Kelly's OC at Oregon after Tampa Bay fired him, too. That MNF gig is too good/easy to leave, though.

Gustavo Fring

October 8th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^

Last time?  There were several reports, if I recall correctly, that Gruden was interviewed for the position.  If we took Hoke over him...well I guess we already found out we took Hoke over Sumlin so it wouldnt be a huge shock

PurpleStuff

October 9th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^

There was that weird exchange between him and Tirico where Gruden said he wasn't taking any coaching job (seemed like there was some reason it was brought up besides just rumors).  Brandon also mentioned "other candidates" who "made it about themselves" rather than about Michigan.  I've always wondered who the other candidates were (seemed like a non-exhaustive search was conducted) and thought Gruden might have fit the bill.

As bad as firing Rodriguez to get Hoke was, choosing Hoke over Gruden under any circumstances is batshit crazy.  Therefore I wouldn't put it past DB.

Don

October 8th, 2014 at 11:12 PM ^

was an intentional in-your-face to Notre Dame by Gruden and didn't indicate any desire to coach at Michigan. Gruden's father had been an assistant under Dan Devine at ND, but after Devine retired after the 1980 season, incoming new coach Gerry Faust didn't retain Gruden's father, which led to bitter feelings on the part of young Jon. As he puts it in his book, "Do You Love Football?":

"In the Dayton football media guide, players had to list their ambition in life. I put down that I wanted to be head coach at Michigan by the time I was thirty-nine. Don't think I'm going to reach that one. Why Michigan? Because at that time I was still that divorced-from-Notre Dame, pissed-off kid, so I wanted to go to Michigan and kick the hell out of Notre Dame. I really wanted to be the head coach at Notre Dame, but at that time I just couldn't make myself state that as an official goal."

http://www.harpercollins.com/web-sampler/9780061743405

MGoFoam

October 9th, 2014 at 12:16 AM ^

I started a "CC: Jon Gruden" thread during MNF this week. I got totally neg'd and then it was deleted. Now it's good because it turns out he wanted the job 30 years ago??

Mpfnfu Ford

October 9th, 2014 at 9:07 AM ^

He's an offensive coach who never had a top 10 offense after leaving Oakland. He never showed he could adapt when the NFL solved the version of the west coast offense he was versed in. Andy Reid and Mike Holmgren were able to change things up and keep ahead of the curve. Gruden was just a telegenic guy running their offense who had success when their version was tearing the league up. When the league adjusted, he was exposed as a mediocre mind.

He couldn't adapt his system while in the NFL, so I don't see any evidence how he'd be able to adapt his system to college. And we already have Bill Callahan's Nebraska to see what happens when you just dump one of Gruden's playbooks on a bunch of college kids. And that's before getting into how much of a narcissist he is and how much he loves flirting with every open coaching job. The thing is, if he took the Michigan job, he'd be exposed (again) as someone not worth wanting.

Don

October 9th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^

He's had no meaningful contact with college FB in 25 years. We have no indication one way or the other how good a recruiter he is, and the track record of career NFL coaches dipping down into the college ranks is mixed at best.

There are other far more qualified potential candidates.