Former Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden is returning to pro football, but not in the capacity you’d expect.

Jon Gruden resigned from the Raiders early in the 2021 season after news broke of his email scandal. The former “Monday Night Football” commentator spent the 2023 season as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints, but wasn’t brought back for 2024.

On Monday, Arena Football One league Commissioner Jeff Fisher announced that Gruden is joining the ownership group of the Nashville Kats. The AF1 club is owned by Fisher Football Ventures LLC, with Fisher serving as the Kats’ Chief Advisor:

‘The Nashville Kats and the Arena Football 1 league are very excited to have someone with Jon’s experience and expertise and success to not only be part of the ownership but also take an active role in a variety of ways within the organization”

Here is Jon Gruden’s statement:

“I have been a fan of indoor football for a long time and jumped at the opportunity to be involved with Jeff and the Nashville Kats as part of the ownership group. I have so much respect for what Jeff has done over his career and continues to do with the Nashville Kats and as commissioner of AF1. I’m excited to be part of the team.”

Fisher was the head coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise from 1994 to 2010 and for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 to 2016. Fisher also spent one year as head coach and GM of the USFL’s Michigan Panthers before resigning.

Gruden resigned in 2021 after old emails were leaked of him using racist, homophobic and misogynistic language. The Super Bowl 37-winning head coach resigned soon after, stating that he didn’t want to be a distraction to the Raiders.

Jon Gruden Had A Complicated NFL Coaching Career

Jon Gruden (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Over 15 seasons as a head coach, Jon Gruden went 117-112-0. He turned the Raiders into a juggernaut before being traded to the Bucs in the 2002 offseason. Fittingly, Gruden led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory over the Raiders in his first season with his new team.

But Tampa Bay never won another playoff game under “Chucky”, and he was fired after the 2008 season. After nine seasons in the ‘MNF’ broadcast booth, he signed a 10-year, $100 million deal with the Raiders in 2018.

Gruden never finished better than 8-8 following his return to the NFL, though. In all, Gruden-coached teams only won double-digit games four times.

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup.

Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw.

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood, in December after 10 years of marriage.

She has since made swipes at Jesse and moved on with TV director Elliot Hegarty, with the pair having been seen kissing during a recent night out.

Fearne has had a difficult few months after undergoing surgery to remove two benign tumours from her jawline, just days before her split with Jesse emerged.

She told host Lorraine: ‘It’s all very amicable and kids are doing great. I am in a very good place.’place.’

Fearne Cotton has broken her silence on split from husband Jesse Wood in her first TV interview since the breakup

Fearne announced her split from Jesse, the son of Rolling Stones bass guitarist Ronnie Wood , in December after 10 years of marriage (both pictured in February 2024)

Discussing her recent surgery, she added: ‘I feel very grateful to have completely recovered.

‘I feel really good. I have a lot of people reaching out who have had the same thing.’

Davina McCall, 56, announced in November she’d been diagnosed with a colloid cyst, a rare type of benign brain tumour, and has supported Fearne.

She continued: ‘Everyone needs a Davina. She’s been amazing, weird that we had the same health thing going on at the same time. She’s so calming and we speak every day. She is just the best

It comes after Fearne has seemingly made another thinly-veiled dig at her ex-husband as she gushed that she is the happiest she’s ever been in a positive update.

Speaking to Scott Mills on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, Fearne gushed that she is ‘really happy’ and is ‘springing out of bed in the morning ready for life’.

Scott, who has known Fearne for 25 years, said he has never seen her ‘more positive or happier’, prompting Fearne to agree and reply: ‘Yeah I feel great!’

She told how her health scare has changed her outlook and said she has been seeking comfort from Davina.

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Joining Lorraine Kelly on Monday’s episode of the ITV show, the TV presenter, 43, also gave an health update after having two tumours removed from jaw