John Madden wonders if Jon Gruden could still be an effective NFL coach

The common belief with Jon Gruden is that any struggling NFL team would be lucky to have him if he decided to leave his job at ESPN and return to coaching. Most of the speculation surrounding Gruden has linked him to the Oakland Raiders. Another former Raiders coach has his doubts about whether Gruden would be able to get the franchise back on track.

During a recent interview with USA Today, Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden said he can’t envision Gruden returning to Oakland.

“The further you get away from it — the game changes from week to week, from month to month and from year to year,” Madden said. “So the more years you’re out, they’re playing a different game than he coached.

“The game that Jon Gruden coached isn’t the game they’re playing now.”

That’s a very fair point. It wasn’t that long ago that throwing for over 4,000 yards was a major accomplishment for a quarterback. Now, guys like Joe Flacco and Brian Hoyer are on pace to surpass that mark. Nine quarterbacks threw for more than 4,000 yards last season. Only six did it when Gruden last coached in 2008, and two of them just barely got there.

Passing yardage is just one example of how the game has change. There are also a number of different rules and rules that are enforced more strictly, as we have seen with illegal contact and defensive holding.

All that said, Gruden has always been a fantastic offensive mind. It’s not like he has been living on a remote island somewhere for the past six years, either. He’s still a student of the game — both at the pro and college levels. With the right personnel and coaching staff, I think Gruden could still be an effective NFL coach.

H/T Shutdown Corner