Raiders’ Gruden can now finish what he started
For almost 16 years, Jon Gruden had a gnawing sensation.
“There is unfinished business,” Gruden said Tuesday at his introductory news conference as Raiders head coach, just after joking, “Thanks for bringing up the tuck rule and for reminding me how old we are.”
On a bitter, snowy January night in New England in 2002, Gruden’s first turn in the position to which he is returning ended in a gutwrenching way — a fumble by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady that officials overturned and deemed an incomplete pass under the NFL’s obscure “tuck rule.” It was a controversial play that cost the Raiders a playoff victory, launched a New England dynasty and has haunted the Raiders ever since.
“For the organization and for the entire Raid-
er Nation, we don’t know what could have been,” said former Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson, who once thought he had won that playoff game with a strip sack of Brady. “We felt like he left prematurely.”
A month later, Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay by thenowner Al Davis — and the Raiders spent the better part of the next 16 years floundering.
But in a stunning turn of events, the years of longing and wishful thinking and unfounded rumors brought us here, with Gruden returning to coach the Oakland Raiders.
We know why owner Mark Davis would open the vault for Gruden. We know why Raiders fans are delirious with happiness. But why would Gruden, who has rejected every prime coaching job that beckoned, come back to the sidelines?
Turns out that not only was Raider Nation pining for him, he was pining right back.
“For my (Oakland) career to end that night in New England, it still ticks me off,” Gruden said. “I’m so thrilled to be back here. I hope people understand the emotion inside. I feel there’s unfinished business. I feel a lot of loyalty and responsibility to get the Raiders going again. It’s been a while since the team has consistently performed at a high level.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help this team get right again.”
Tuesday’s news conference was part coronation, part class reunion and grand theater. It was held in the Raiders’ high performance center, which even Mark Davis — who fired head coach Jack Del Rio after the final game of the season — said should be called the Jack Del Rio high performance center because the former coach helped bring the Raiders into the modern era.
The room was packed, not only with reporters and team employees but with dozens of former players. There was a celebratory, giddy vibe in the audience: that a wrong had finally been righted.
“He didn’t want to leave here,” said former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon. “I sat up in that office with him after we lost to the Patriots and you could see the pain on his face.”
Gruden’s monster deal — 10 years for $100 million — had apparently been talked about for years. Gruden’s agent, Bob LaMonte, said those contract numbers have been floated as what it would take to lure Gruden out of the television booth. Gruden had many feelers; Davis said he’s been pursuing Gruden for six years.
But it wasn’t until the first week of November, when the Raiders spent the week in Sarasota, Fla., having just lost to the Buffalo Bills to fall to 3-5, that the wooing got serious. Davis visited Gruden in Tampa that week to ask for advice on how to turn around the franchise.
“That might be the first time I started to get the inkling that he might be the one to come back and fix it,” Davis said.
Gruden broadcast the Raiders’ penultimate game of the season, in Philadelphia on Christmas night.
“We spoke Christmas Eve,” Davis said. “I felt pretty confident that he was all in.”
It was a bold stroke from Davis, who needs momentum and credibility heading into the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas. And it was the end of a long quest that started that February day almost 16 years ago when his father traded Gruden to Tampa Bay.
In the years since, there have been plenty of events at Raiders headquarters, which doubled as a coaching carousel. The “We must be the dumbest team in America,” news conference by then-head coach Bill Callahan. The hiring of Norv Turner. The return of Art Shell. The hiring of young “Lance” — as Al Davis mistakenly called Lane — Kiffin, and the subsequent firing by overhead projector. The Tom Cable hiring and firing, the Hue Jackson hiring, the Dennis Allen hiring and the Jack Del Rio hiring.
All were accompanied by the sense that something irretrievable had already been lost, that the Raiders’ best hope ended when Gruden was sent to Tampa.
Tuesday’s event was quite different. Joyful. A pleasant mix of fond memories and future excitement.
Now 54, Gruden is, in many ways, the same person. He still claims not to be a “deep and philosophical” guy, still wakes up in the predawn hours, still works like a madman. His three sons are almost grown: Deuce works for Jay Gruden in Washington, Michael goes to the University of Tennessee and Jayson, who was born in the East Bay, is a junior in high school. While his wife, Cindy, and Jayson will remain in Tampa to finish the school year, they are looking at schools in the Bay Area, and Cindy hopes they can find a home in their old neighborhood in Pleasanton. She will be more involved in the community than last time, no longer having to juggle three wild little boys.
“We’re so excited to be back,” Gruden said.
And though he didn’t say it specifically, the definite impression Gruden left was that he wanted to come back and finish his business while the team was still in Oakland. He didn’t mention Las Vegas, except when he was asked about the team’s impending move.
“All I know is this year I’m going to be coaching in Oakland, and next year I’m going to be coaching in Oakland,” Gruden said. “We’ll deliver the best football team we can to the people here in Oakland. And how long I stay here will be determined by how well we play.”
How this plays out on the field remains to be seen. Gruden said he couldn’t wait to get through Tuesday, lock the doors and get to work.
Though Gruden hasn’t won a playoff game since his Buccaneers beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII 15 seasons ago, and though he was fired in Tampa, he may be a better coach than he was the first time around. He has studied every team in the league, spent offseasons analyzing all the quarterback talent, and has the wisdom that comes with age.
Will he really lead the Raiders for 10 years? Doubtful. The smart money would be two years in Oakland and a couple more to get the team settled in Las Vegas.
“I don’t have a guarantee to be alive for 10 years,” Gruden said.
No one does. But Gruden has an opportunity that few ever get: to take care of unfinished business.