Coach finally back in silver and black
Gruden’s return to Raiders official, 16 years after trade.
Jon Gruden was welcomed back for a second stint as Raiders coach with an elaborate introductory news conference Tuesday.
Gruden was greeted by owner Mark Davis with a video of the highlights from his first tenure in Oakland nearly 20 years after he was first introduced as coach as an unproven 34-year-old by late owner Al Davis.
“I feel this is the thing to do, what I want to do,” Gruden said. “This is an organization that I want to be a part of. I’m all in. I only live one time. This is something I feel deeply and strongly about.”
Gruden coached the Raiders from 1998-2001 before being traded to Tampa Bay 16 years ago. About 50 former Raiders were on hand, including several of Gruden’s former players such as Charles Woodson, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Rich Gannon.
Mark Davis said he had been trying to bring Gruden back for six years, ever since taking over the franchise following his father’s death.
Davis said he first got an inkling Gruden might be ready to return when he met with him during the season in Florida to talk about how to fix the team. It became more serious when they met Christmas Eve before the Raiders played in Philadelphia in a game Gruden worked for ESPN.
That led Davis to decide to cut ties with coach Jack Del Rio as soon as the disappointing 6-10 season ended and finalize a deal with Gruden.
“Everybody knows I’ve been infatuated with him or whatever to get him here,” Davis said. “Somebody asked me, what was harder — to get the 31 votes to move to Las Vegas? Or to get Jon Gruden? And by far to get Jon Gruden was the toughest.”
Gruden returns to the sidelines after nine seasons at ESPN. He said he’s eager to take over a team with a promising young quarterback in Derek Carr.
“I think he’s got huge upside,” Gruden said.
Panthers: Coach Ron Rivera fired longtime offensive coordinator Mike Shula, saying the team needs a “different perspective.”
Along with Shula, the Panthers cut ties with quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey two days after a playoff loss to the Saints. Shula spent seven seasons with Carolina, working as the quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013.
Bears: New coach Matt Nagy says he is looking forward to working with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and leading a team he insists is poised to make a jump. The Bears introduced Nagy a day after he was hired as the team’s 16th coach to replace the fired John Fox.
Nagy says he will call plays and that he was the one doing so — not Andy Reid — in the second half of Kansas City’s playoff loss to Tennessee.
Giants: Interviewed Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for their vacant head coaching job.
The 48-year-old Wilks met with co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, new general manager Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams at team headquarters.
Wilks has close ties to Gettleman, who was Carolina’s general manager until being fired before the start of this past season. This was Wilks’ sixth year with the Panthers and first as defensive coordinator, when Carolina ranked seventh in the NFL, allowing 317.1 yards per game.
Bills: General manager Brandon Beane is keeping his options open when evaluating quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s future and determining whether the team needs to upgrade the position.
Beane said the Bills have enough assets in two picks in each of the first two rounds of the draft to move up and address any position of need, including quarterback.
Chiefs: Promoted running backs coach Eric Bieniemy to offensive coordinator, filling the job that Matt Nagy left open when he was hired as the head coach of the Bears.
Bieniemy has spent five seasons with the Chiefs, joining the franchise when Andy Reid was hired as the head coach.
Eagles: Philadelphia (13-3) is the first No. 1 seed to be an underdog in its opening playoff game. The sixth-seeded Falcons (11-6) are 2½-point favorites in Saturday’s divisional round. After Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14, the Eagles went 2-1 with backup QB Nick Foles, but the offense sputtered.