When it comes to the Grumors that were seemingly an annual occurrence for years, the man at the center of them says, at least publicly, there was nothing to them.
You would need both hands and probably a foot or two to count the number of times Jon Gruden was connected to a head-coaching job at Tennessee. Going back through the CFT archives, the first mention of Gruden and the Vols that I’ve found came in November of 2008. At various points, there have been headlines that have read “Gruden just says no to Vols” (January, 2010)... “Gruden may meet with Vols this week... or not” (November, 2012)... “Gruden tells Vols ‘thanks, but no thanks’” (November, 2012)... “Tennessee officials reportedly in Tampa wooing Jon Gruden … or not” (November, 2017). And, trust me, there were myriad others.
Of course, none of that ever came to fruition as, today, Gruden is an NFL head coach in Oakland (soon to be Las Vegas). This weekend, Gruden’s Raiders will play host to the Volunteer State’s NFL team, the Tennessee Titans. Not surprisingly, there is some interest on the part of Tennessee beat writers in Gruden as part of not only this game specifically but for his past connection to the state’s flagship football program.
So, in that vein, Gruden -- hey, did you know his wife was a cheerleader at UT and they own property in the state? -- was asked by Gentry Estes of The Tennessean if he ever seriously considered becoming the Volunteers’ head football coach.
“Nah, I did strongly consider, though, buying season tickets and just enjoying Neyland Stadium, because I love UT,” Gruden told the newspaper.
First, what else was the man supposed to say? Secondly, this’ll serve as the last time that we ever have to type the word “Grumors,” right? Right?!?
