The Oakland Raiders have fired head coach Jack Del Rio and all signs point to Jon Gruden being the next head coach. And while many fans are excited about the return of Chucky, there are legitimate reasons to wonder whether or not he is the right man to take Oakland to the next level.
Obviously, many fans are excited because the last time the Raiders were good, Gruden was the head coach and many believe that had he not left, Oakland would have won a Super Bowl. But while nostalgia is great fun, it doesn’t mean bringing Gruden back will automatically lead to the same kind of success Chucky saw in his first stint with the team.
So let’s take a look at the two biggest reasons why Gruden may not be the best choice to be the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders:
Out of Coaching For Years
Many have cited Gruden’s absence from the sidelines as a reason to be concerned about whether or not he still has what it takes to be a head coach. These concerns are two fold. First, there is the concern that he will not have the work ethic required to win in the NFL The second is the concern that the game has changed significantly since he left.
Neither of these concerns bother me for the same reason: Gruden has acted like a coach ever since he went into broadcasting.
Rich Gannon discussed this recently on 95.7 The Game. Gruden takes his broadcasting job very seriously and prepares for every game the way he would if he was a coach. He watches copious amounts of film in preparation for every game he calls. He doesn’t treat his broadcasting job like a 9-5, even though he easily could.
That means he clearly still has the drive and work ethic to be a head coach in the NFL and all those hours studying game film means he has a good understanding of what does and what doesn’t work in today’s NFL.
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