Tennessee Vols: Jon Gruden Notes And Thoughts For Friday

Are the Tennessee Vols seriously pursuing former NFL head coach Jon Gruden?

I’m going to be honest with you, at this point I really don’t know what to make of the rumors surrounding Jon Gruden and the Tennessee Vols.

For the last couple of months, I’ve consistently been in the “no way Gruden comes to Tennessee camp”. For that reason, I’m a bit skeptical about all the rumors surrounding Gruden right now.

But the smoke around Gruden has become so strong at this point that it’s almost impossible to ignore.

And I think we’d be foolish to completely discount Gruden as a possibility at Tennessee.

However, I still don’t see Gruden ending up at Tennessee. I’m still hovering around a five or ten percent chance that he coaches the Vols next season. And that’s not me trying to save face if he does ink a deal with UT, that’s just what I truly think at this point. Gruden keeps everything on his end very quiet. But I do believe he misses coaching, and I do think he’s eventually going to get back into it.

If Gruden decided to return to coaching, Tennessee would make a lot of sense. The only other destination that would make sense for Gruden would be Tampa Bay — where he currently makes his home. But I don’t think the Bucs are going back down that road again, after firing him in 2008.

It hasn’t been a big secret that the Gruden’s have considered moving to Knoxville for some time. Gruden could obviously live in Knoxville and continue to work for ESPN — that wouldn’t be an issue at all.

But if the Grudens, specially Jon’s wife Cindy, want to be in Knoxville, then I wouldn’t expect him to take a NFL job in a different city. It’s pretty clear that family is important to Gruden (I think the age of his kids has played a big part in him remaining in the Monday Night Football booth), so it would make sense that if he coaches again he’d want to be a coach in the city where his family is living.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire?

Several folks, including The Read Optional’s Trey Wallace and former Vols Jayson Swain and Albert Haynesworth, have put out information that suggests Jon Gruden has an offer in front him. Wallace told 104.5 the zone on Thursday that the offer is for $10.2 million a year.

Even if Gruden doesn’t end up taking that offer, it at least tells you that Tennessee is willing to go big with their next hire. Perhaps they would be able to back the money truck up and convince a Gary Patterson to come to Knoxville.

Wallace also reported on Thursday that Gruden is being allowed to use the Haslam’s private plane.

Rumors immediately began to circulate that Gruden was using the plane to fly around and interview potential staff members. I just don’t see that being the case.

Would a man who hasn’t officially signed a contract with a school who still employs a head coach be flying around the country interviewing folks who are still on a staff in the middle of the season?

That doesn’t seem likely. I could see Gruden making some phone calls and sending some texts through back channels, but I don’t think he’s flying around the country covertly interviewing potential staff members.

Maybe Cindy Gruden has been flying back and forth to Knoxville. Maybe it was just a friendly gesture and the Grudens haven’t really taken advantage of the offer. No one is really sure at the moment.

By the way, it’s also worth mentioning that Gruden’s camp has declined various requests to comment on the Tennessee job. That’s shouldn’t come as a surprise. Even if Gruden had zero interest in the job, I still think he’d decline to comment (you might remember when Mike and Mike famously asked him about the job in 2012 and he quickly changed the subject).

Next: Gary Patterson Speaks About Vols

It’s fixing to be a wild few weeks in Knoxville — especially once Butch Jones is officially fired.

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