Jon Gruden To Cleveland Browns: Talks Heat Up in The Wake of Week 15 Loss

As to be expected, the Cleveland Browns rumor mill is starting to churn with the possibility of a coaching change and the No. 1 name at the top of nearly every Browns fans (and Mike Holmgren's) lists is Jon Gruden.

Gruden's name is being heard around the Browns and it is being reported by National Football Post that is would take about $7 million per year to bring the former Super Bowl-winning coach to the Lake Erie coast.

A childhood fan of the Browns, Gruden grew up in Sandusky, OH which is approximately 45 minutes West of Cleveland.

Both Gruden and Holmgren go back to their time with both the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers.

Gruden was the quarterbacks coach for the Niners and he was directly under Holmgren, who was the offensive coordinator in 1990.

When Holmgren left to be the head coach of the Packers in 1992, he brought Gruden with him and his offensive assistants until 1994 when Gruden left for the Philadelphia Eagles to be the offensive coordinator under another former Holmgren student, Ray Rhodes who was the Eagles' head coach.

It seems like everything is coming around full circle once again, now that current Browns head coach Eric Mangini has lost two straight games to struggling teams in the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills.

Gruden may be a part of ESPN's Monday Night Football coverage, but like in any other contract situation, there are usually exit clauses that allow a former coach to leave his television job to go back to the sideline otherwise coaches wouldn't take the television job in the first place.

National Football Post has also reported that the Cleveland Browns are the only destination that Gruden wants to go to when he goes back into coaching and it looks like he desperately wants to not only coach his childhood team but work for Holmgren who is the reason Gruden found success at many different levels in the NFL in the first place.

There are still some Browns fans that are hesitant of a Gruden hiring, but do not be surprised if the one who many refer to as "Chucky" is back on the sideline with a headset on barking at Browns players and referees in 2011.

Though Gruden will have to replace his collection of visors for warmer hats during Cleveland winters.