The Oakland Raiders are so interested in bringing Jon Gruden back as their head coach that they could make him an offer that would be difficult to refuse.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen report that the Raiders want to hire Gruden as their head coach. ESPN reports that Raiders owner Mark Davis has an affinity for Gruden. They also believe that Gruden is ready to return to coaching in 2018.
They say the Raiders in the past have offered Gruden an ownership stake in order to entice him to take the job and that they could do something similar again in order to lure him away from his broadcasting job at ESPN.
One issue that could confuse matters is that Gruden’s agent also represents the team’s current head coach, Jack Del Rio. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says the team could keep Del Rio if they are unable to lure Gruden.
Gruden was also mentioned in connection with the Bucs job, but Dirk Koetter will be back next season. Gruden and the Bucs denied having talks about him returning to the team.
Gruden, 54, coached the Raiders from 1998-2001, going 38-26. The team won the AFC West in each of his last two seasons. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and ended up winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the team.
