Jon Gruden is back in the coaching rumor mill, but not for an NFL job.
Gruden has been linked to the Indiana University coaching search after the school fired Tom Allen with a $15.5 million buyout, with The Athletic reporting that Gruden, who attended Clay High School in South Bend, Ind., is a “major wild card candidate” for the Hoosiers.
Gruden, 60, has “some interest” in the job and has “some support with a few key people high up at the school,” per the report.
Meanwhile, Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com says Gruden is not a candidate for the Indiana gig and claims “his agent did float some good bulls–t.”
Gruden last coached with the Raiders in 2021, when he resigned that October five games in after an NFL investigation into the Commanders discovered he used racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in emails.
That ended his second stint with the Raiders in his fourth season.
Gruden returned to the franchise in 2018, ending a nine-year run calling “Monday Night Football.”
His first run with the Raiders was from 1998-2001, during which the team lost in the AFC Championship game after the 2000 season and fell to the Patriots in the divisional round the following year in the infamous “tuck rule” game.
Gruden then joined the Buccaneers in a trade and won Super Bowl XXXVII in his first season with the team. He hasn’t won a playoff game since.
The Saints had Gruden in for a consulting role during training camp earlier this year.
Allen lasted seven seasons with Indiana, which went 3-9 this year with a 1-8 record in the Big Ten.
After a pair of 5-7 seasons, Allen led the Hoosiers to consecutive bowl games in 2019 and 2020, but they’ve had three straight losing seasons since.