Why Jon Gruden may or may not be the answer for the Raiders

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.

Coaching Youth vs. Coaching Veterans

This is the one that does concern me a bit. All of Gruden’s success came when he was coaching veterans with years of experience. That was the case with the Raiders and Tampa Bay. But after winning a Super Bowl with the Bucs, the team started to turn over due to age, and when Gruden was tasked with developing young talent, the result was that he lost his job.

The current Raiders team is full of young players who need to be developed, Derek Carr and Amari Cooper in particular. If Gruden is unable to develop these two, it will be disastrous for Oakland’s future.

It is worth noting that the Bucs were a bit crippled draft wise, by the trade that brought Gruden to Tampa Bay. So while he was tasked with building a team with youth, he also didn’t have a ton of resources to get that job done. Nevertheless, all of his success came with coaching veterans and that is not what he will have in Oakland. It will be a big test for Gruden and hopefully one he will be able to pass.