What could have been? Back in the day, it felt like head coach Jon Gruden was rumored to be connected with just about every big-time job that was open. Of course, he was linked to the Tennessee Volunteers on more than one occasion.
After Phillip Fulmer decided to retire, there's been a serious game of musical chairs going on to fill the void. Thankfully, Josh Heupel has this team at No. 6 in the country and the future is looking bright. The same couldn't be said when Lane Kiffin, Derek Cooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt were hired to run the show.
However, it looks like Gruden was incredibly close to being the Tennessee HC long before Heupel got to town? That appears to be the case, as he told the team over at Pardon My Take that he indeed was enamored with the idea of heading to Knoxville. Instead, that never happened. Thank goodness, if you ask us:
Jon Gruden reveals how close he came to taking the Tennessee coaching job:
— On3 (@On3sports) November 15, 2024
“My wife cheered at Tennessee. I love Tennessee. I was a graduate coach there, and I did talk to the Athletic Director, and I don’t look up to anybody more than I look up to Peyton Manning and Kenny… pic.twitter.com/v6uB6QzksJ
Jon Gruden said he was once quite close to taking the Tennessee Vols HC job
The fact that Gruden spoke with Tennessee's athletic director and was close to taking the job is pretty eye-opening. Gruden said this process went down when he was working on the Monday Night Football team with Mike Tirico (2011-2014).
If that's the case, it sure seems like Gruden could have been hired over Jones, but no exact date was mentioned for when the talks heated up. Gruden's coaching career actually started at Tennessee, as he was a grad assistant in 1986-87. He then worked his way to becoming the Raiders head coach from 1998-2001, before taking over in Tampa Bay from 2002-2008.
After his stint with Tampa Bay, he was out of coaching until returning to the Raiders in 2018. However, he resigned in 2021 after it was reported that he had sent emails, which spanned around a decade, that contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic content.
He's been pretty low key since, but Gruden recently made countless headlines after joining Barstool Sports. As for the Vols, they're getting ready to take on Georgia in the biggest and best game in the country this weekend. While there were some lean years for Tennessee post Fulmer, Heupel now his the SEC powerhouse back where they belong. In the end, things worked out pretty well for Tennessee and plenty of people are probably pretty thankful Gruden ended up staying away from the main job in town.