Report: Gruden “Seriously Considered” College Job

In the wake of this morning’s item regarding former Bucs coach Jon Gruden’s potential interest in returning to the college game, a reader pointed out to us a recent item from the Dayton Daily News indicating that Gruden “seriously considered” a college coaching opportunity earlier this year. For more details, yeah, we’re going to refer you to the sister site. Though we don’t know whether Gruden actually gave serious consideration to the gig or whether he was merely being polite, the reality seems to be that Gruden is firmly in play for any and all jobs, college and pro, in 2010. And it makes sense for Gruden to troll for college gigs. The hiring cycle commences in late November/early December. To the extent that Gruden is generating buzz in college circles, Gruden could find himself getting discreet calls from NFL owners who envision vacancies of their own roughly a month later. The challenge for Gruden will be to decide whether to jump on the best college job that comes available, or to wait for an NFL opportunity to formally arise.