Jon Gruden Reportedly Will Be Named Raiders Head Coach After Jack Del Rio Firing

Jon Gruden could only ignore the coaching itch for so long, as it appears he may become the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders after Jack Del Rio was fired following Sunday's 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on SportsCenter that Gruden's arrival is a matter of time:

The Athletic's John Middlekauff also spoke to an assistant on the Raiders' staff who said there's a "99 percent" chance Gruden will succeed Del Rio.

While the Raiders still need to confirm Gruden's hiring, Del Rio is definitively out. The Mercury News' Matt Schneidman shared Del Rio's statement confirming his departure:

Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported Saturday the Raiders were seriously pursuing a reunion with Gruden. According to the report, in addition to allowing him to "reshape the front office, coaching staff and entire organization," Raiders owner Mark Davis was prepared to offer Gruden an ownership stake in the team to lure him away from broadcasting.

Schefter and Mortensen noted that step would require approval from the NFL's other owners and expressed doubt that would be part of Oakland's final deal with Gruden. The Ringer's Michael Lombardi was similarly skeptical:

ESPN did everything it could in order to keep Gruden in Bristol, Connecticut. Not only was he the lead color analyst on Monday Night Football, but he also became a fixture on the network around NFL draft time, when he would break down film with the top draft-eligible quarterbacks.

James Andrew Miller, who co-authored the ESPN history Those Guys Have All the Fun, reported in September 2015 that Gruden was earning roughly $6.5 million a year, making him the company's highest-paid on-air personality.

In an interview on The Paul Finebaum Show in August 2015, Gruden admitted his passion remained with coaching, though he was quick to speak positively about his role at ESPN (via NFL.com's Chase Goodbread).

"I love football. I'll be the first to tell you, I miss coaching," he said. "But I do look at my job here as a lot like coaching. I get a chance to be around it 364 days a year and I feel like I'm improving, but I don't have a team."

If the right offer came along, Gruden was bound to accept, and clearly, he views the Raiders as the right opportunity.

Despite his reputation and past success, this move is still a gamble for Oakland. Gruden's last season was in 2008. Football has changed quite a bit in the seven seasons he has been gone.

Through his work with ESPN, Gruden has obviously witnessed the general changes in the sport, but watching them as an analyst and adapting to them as a head coach present two entirely different challenges.

Not only that, Gruden's final years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were hardly memorable. The Bucs' defenses were almost always among the league's best before Gruden's arrival. Gruden couldn't create the same magic on the other side of the ball.

According to Football Outsiders, Tampa Bay never ranked higher than 13th in offensive efficiency, which it achieved in 2008. Only twice in Gruden's eight years (2003 and 2008) did the Buccaneers have an offense that was in the top half of the league in efficiency.

Gruden's critics could argue Tampa Bay won a Super Bowl largely because of its historically great defense, not unlike the 2000 Baltimore Ravens or 2015 Denver Broncos.

Gruden also had a great staff of coaches around him, including legendary coordinator Monte Kiffin and future NFL head coaches Mike Tomlin and Raheem Morris. This is not to take all of the credit away from Gruden for the Buccaneers' lone title, but the achievement was a collaborative effort.

Hiring Gruden may not be strictly about making the Raiders a winner. His arrival will invigorate the fanbase at a tricky time for the franchise as it plans for its inevitable move to Las Vegas.

To some extent, this move isn't unlike the Raiders luring Oakland native Marshawn Lynch out of retirement. Obviously, the Raiders will hope Gruden will have more of a long-term impact than Lynch.

In particular, Oakland likely sees Gruden as somebody who can get Derek Carr's development back on track after he regressed in 2017. Carr threw for 3,496 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his fourth season, all of which were below his numbers from 2016 (3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions).

According to Spotrac, Carr's dead salary cap money falls from $25 million in 2018 to $7.5 million in 2019, so the Raiders could feasibly get out from under his five-year, $125 million extension in 2019 if they've lost confidence in his abilities.

Given the difficulty of finding a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL, making it work with Carr is clearly Oakland's best route. If Gruden can get Carr back to playing at a Pro Bowl-type level, a return to the playoffs should be within reach.

Considering how much they're investing in Gruden, the stakes couldn't be much higher for the Raiders. If everything works out, then they could be a Super Bowl contender again. If Gruden is a bust in his return to the NFL coaching ranks, then it could have disastrous consequences for Oakland that last well beyond Gruden's tenure.