GRUDEN: $100M COACH
NFL RECORD TO RUN RAIDERS
The Raiders believe so strongly in Jon Gruden they want him in charge for the next decade.
Gruden is expected to strike a deal for 10 years and $100 million to be the Raiders’ next head coach, ESPN reported Friday. It would be the longest contract for an NFL coach since the Cowboys gave Tom Landry a 10-year extension in 1964.
Though NFL teams do not disclose details of coaching deals, $100 million is believed to be the richest contract ever offered to a coach.
The Raiders won’t be holding back on Gruden’s underlings either, prepared to make his coaching staff the most expensive in league history, according to NFL Network. His coordinators — expected to be Rams quarterbacks coach Greg Olson as offensive coordinator and Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther in the same role — reportedly will receive four-year deals to extend beyond the team’s relocation to Las Vegas in 2020.
Gruden’s other anticipated move is to lure Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia to lead his group in Oakland.
Gruden will make his grand return to the Raiders in a press conference to announce his hire Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
The ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst has sidestepped questions about the Raiders job all week after his employer broke the news Monday, only going so far as to admit “there’s a good chance” he would take the job.
His stated intention of calling the Chiefs-Titans wild-card game Saturday — which would be his last broadcast with the network before moving back to the NFL sidelines — irritated some who felt his presence in production meetings could earn him valuable information on future AFC rivals.
Tension also arose this week between Gruden and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith after the “First Take” co-host criticized the original report that Gruden might be offered an ownership stake in the Raiders. Gruden, appearing on “Golic & Wingo” on Wednesday morning, denied the ownership incentive would be part of the deal after saying he heard Smith “screaming at me on TV yesterday.”
Gruden, 54, is leaving ESPN to resume a coaching career headlined by a stint in Oakland from 1998 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2008 in Tampa Bay, where he won Super Bowl XXXVII.