Teams back at combine in search of success
INDIANAPOLIS — Lured out of the broadcast booth with a $100 million contract that makes him the highest-paid football coach ever, Jon Gruden sauntered up to the podium and flashed that mischievous smile.
“I’m very excited to be back here in Indianapolis,” Gruden declared. “I sure have missed the combine.”
Gruden is navigating an offseason NFL landscape that’s changed drastically since he last roamed the sideline nearly a decade ago.
“It’s a lot different because you’re not allowed to have any interaction with the players, and I’ve always complained about that since the new (collective bargaining agreement) came into place,” Gruden said Wednesday. “A lot of players would come to see me in Tampa to get their football fix.
“So, you’re not allowed to have contact with these guys. But what’s most discouraging to me is we’ve got to make some
decisions on our roster, on salaries, on players and their futures and you can’t even meet them,” Gruden grumbled.
“I don’t know these guys. I’ve never coached them. I never met half of them. So, that’s been very, very difficult for me and I’ve been emotional about it at times.”
On the next podium was Matt Patricia, who, unlike his former colleague Josh McDaniels,
didn’t balk at leaving Bill Belichick’s brigade.
Then there was Andy Reid, in the midst of another major roster shakeup, and his protege, Doug Pederson, still basking in Philadelphia’s first Super Bowl triumph in just his second season as coach of the Eagles.
All are gathering this week in Indianapolis hoping to better their chances of winning in 2018.
Top college prospects, including a group of quarterbacks that could produce five first-round draft picks, will spend four days getting poked and prodded, tested and timed.
GMs and coaches will pepper them with questions either in formal 15-minute interviews or during a mixed zone after their physical assessments.
“It’s a chance to get to know these guys, to know exactly what you’re getting when they come into the building,” said new Texans general manager Brian Gaine.
He said their athleticism and acumen are already well-known, and they’ll flash their strength, speed and swiftness this week at Lucas Oil Stadium. What the GMs and coaches want to do is get a look under the hood.
“We’d like to talk about football as much as we can, but we need to know everything we can to find out about these players,” Gaine said. “So when they come into our building (we know) that they’re a good fit for us in the locker room, in the weight room, in the training room, in the meeting rooms, out on the practice field.”