Jon Gruden Makes Shocking Return To Pro Football

Jon Gruden (Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)
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.