Athletes - Jon Gruden

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	Athletes - Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden (born August 17, 1963 in Sandusky, Ohio) is an American football coach in the NFL. His father is Jim Gruden, who was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' running back's coach for the Bucs in 1982-83, and director of player personnel from 1984 to 1986.

Gruden attended college in his native Ohio at the University of Dayton, where he played quarterback and graduated with a degree in communications. He got his start at his alma mater, where he was the quarterbacks coach for three years. Gruden went on to become an assistant at the University of Tennessee as well as at the University of Pittsburgh during their bowl runs of the late 1980s. After breaking into professional football as an offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers in 1990, Gruden quickly ascended through the ranks of NFL coaching by learning, implementing, and improving the famous West Coast offense pioneered by longtime NFL coach Bill Walsh. When Mike Holmgren left the 49ers to become head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1992, he took the promising and young Gruden with him to become the team's wide receivers coach. After three seasons in Green Bay, Gruden moved on to become the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles under former Packers assistant coach Ray Rhodes. Gruden then was chosen by the legendary owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, to be the Raiders' new head coach for the 1998 season.

After compiling a 40-28 win-loss record with the Raiders, Gruden moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, traded for several draft picks and $8 million in cash. The trade took place for a number of reasons, including Gruden's desire to run his own organization, Davis' desire to be rid of a talented coach who might challenge his decision-making authority on the Raiders, Gruden's contract expiring a year after the trade, and Davis' uncertainty whether Gruden was worth as much money as his next contract was sure to pay him.

Gruden also considered Tampa home. As a child, he was a frequent visitor to One Buccaneer Place while his father Jim worked there as a coach and personnel director between 1982 and 1986.

The high draft picks (two first round picks and two second round picks) given to the Raiders in the trade, and the large contract with which the Buccaneers awarded Gruden, sealed the deal that sent one of the NFL's promising young offensive minds to a franchise frustrated by its inability to reach the Super Bowl despite a league-dominating defense. Even though Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer demanded that Tony Dungy be fired after two years of miserable post-season losses to the Philadelphia Eagles in which the Bucs couldn't even score a touchdown, there were still many who believed that Dungy's dismissal was unfair and impatient, especially since he quickly became the winningest coach in Bucs history during his tenure. Even Gruden's hiring process was criticized, when the Glazers rejected Bucs general manager Rich McKay's initial choice of Marvin Lewis, and pursued Gruden themselves personally.

Immediately after arriving in Tampa, Gruden significantly retooled the offense with the addition of numerous free agents, including former New York Giants wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Keenan McCardell, former Arizona Cardinals running back Michael Pittman and former Indianapolis Colts tight end Ken Dilger. Gruden's determination to fix the underperforming offense so often maligned during Dungy's tenure inspired the Bucs defense to another #1 ranking, which helped the team to a 16-4 season and a win over Gruden's old team in Super Bowl XXXVII. Despite the impressive Super Bowl win, there were many people--including players on the Buccaneers like Warren Sapp and a number of sports analysts--who atrributed Gruden's win primarily to the smothering defense that coach Tony Dungy had created during his tenure with the Bucs, ignoring the major revamping that Gruden did on the offensive side of the ball. Nevertheless, Gruden publicly and graciously thanked Dungy for his contributions upon accepting the Lombardi Trophy at the Super Bowl XXXVII postgame ceremony.

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