Tag: jon gruden

5 possible replacements for Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael

A new offensive coordinator is the most realistic change for the Saints in 2024. Here are some possibilities from Ken Dorsey and Eric Bieniemy to Jon Gruden:

Big changes are needed for the New Orleans Saints, but they appear to be willing to wait until 2025 when it’s easier to get out of Derek Carr’s contract and move on from him and head coach Dennis Allen as a package deal — obviously hoping both of them figure things out and finally achieve a winning season instead.

So the most realistic big change fans could expect for 2024 would be a new offensive coordinator. Pete Carmichael Jr. hasn’t gotten the job done in either of his two years as the Saints’ play caller. It’s possible that Allen could promote from within (passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry is an obvious possibility) but the Saints badly need fresh perspective in the room. They can’t keep trying to run Sean Payton and Drew Brees’ offense without either of them.

The problem is that Allen has tried and failed to replace Carmichael in each of his first two years on the job; up-and-comers like Liam Coen would rather stay in the college ranks than try and advance their career on his staff, while coaching veterans like Jay Gruden, Scottie Montgomery, and Robert Prince are trying their hand elsewhere. If Allen is going to get a new coordinator, it’ll be someone who is either desperate for the opportunity, highly-paid to sweeten the deal, or both.

So who fits that description? Here are five names we’re watching closely.

What did Jay Gruden think of Jack Del Rio’s firing?

Jay Gruden weighs in on Jack Del Rio’s firing. He isn’t wrong.

Former Washington head coach Jay Gruden is a frequent guest on several Washington-area radio shows and podcasts these days. Gruden coached Washington from 2014 through the first five games of the 2019 season, when he was fired after starting 0-5.

While some think Gruden comes on local airwaves to “hate on” the Commanders, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Gruden praises Washington and offers excellent insight into players, schemes and game situations. He also provides analysis on the rest of the NFL, too.

Gruden recently opened a Twitter — or X — account. You can see Gruden’s personality in some of his tweets. He’s never afraid to bust his own chops from his time as a coach.

On Friday, Gruden had a different response to the Washington Commanders firing defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.

He’s right. Despite the franchise’s enormous amount of investments on that side of the ball, Washington’s defense was terrible under Del Rio in two of his four seasons.

But Gruden had one more tweet on the matter, and it was personal.

So, what was Gruden talking about?

It could be this.

Need more context?

Del Rio was fired as the Raiders head coach after the 2017 season. Why? So owner Mark Davis could bring Jay’s brother, Jon, to coach the Raiders, whom he coached from 1998-2001.

Jay Gruden likely remembered Del Rio’s comments about his brother from 2021.

As for Del Rio, he was no stranger to controversial comments himself, which earned him a fine in 2022.

The ugliest winning seasons in NFL history

The 2023 Steelers have an ugly winning season, but it’s not the worst winning season in pro football history. Not even close.

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Folks, the Pittsburgh Steelers just keep winning ugly. In their 23-19 Sunday win over the Green Bay Packers, Mike Tomlin’s team continued its streak of being outgained by every single one of its opponents. This time, the Packers gained 399 net yards to Pittsburgh’s 324. The Steelers are now the only professional football team since at least 1933 to be outgained in every game and still have a winning record.

Impressive? In a perverse way, yes.

Despite this lack of offensive firepower, and a point differential of -26, the Steelers stand at 6-3 on the season, which got us thinking — what are the worst winning seasons in NFL history? Those seasons in which you think to yourself, “There’s no WAY these guys can be winning,” but they are anyway?

As it turns out, the Steelers are nowhere near the worst winning teams in these categories. But it is notable that in all three seasons of Matt Canada’s tenure as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the Steelers are either on this list, or in the discussion.

Carson Wentz is thankful for Jon Gruden’s help this summer

Carson Wentz spent some time with Jon Gruden this summer, which he saw as being very beneficial

Carson Wentz didn’t have the benefit of a normal offseason this year. Being a free agent, he didn’t have a minicamp or training camp, and he also didn’t play in the preseason.

The Rams are his first opportunity of 2023 and while he’s probably a bit rusty, he’s tried to stay in a rhythm by throwing to his older brother and anyone else who would catch passes from him. He also spent some time with Jon Gruden this summer, getting his thoughts on where he can improve and what he can do better.

“That was something my agent suggested and Coach Gruden’s awesome,” Wentz said. “I thought it was fun working with him and for me not being on a team, I just wanted to go talk football, go study tape, have someone be honest and critical of my game, where I can get better. And just to spend a couple days with him was a lot of fun and really challenging, and kind of got my mind back in football mode a little bit, too. So I was thankful for his help.”

That time with Gruden may have helped Wentz in his transition to the Rams offense. Sean McVay worked under Gruden earlier in his career, and he was also on Jay Gruden’s staff in Washington for a few years before coming to the Rams.

Wentz won’t have to go into a game unless Matthew Stafford gets hurt, but he’ll be as prepared as possible for when that time may come.

Reminder: The Raiders must pay Josh McDaniels and Jon Gruden not to coach them

The Raiders had to pay up for two people NOT to coach them.

The Las Vegas Raiders continue to struggle to find head coaches who will stick around and help the franchise win games.

The team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002 (!!!!), and Mark Davis has cycled through coaches and general managers in an attempt to find some consistency.

The latest? He fired both Josh McDaniels (after just 25 games at the helm) and general manager Dave Ziegler, which Raiders fans loved. But let’s focus on McDaniels. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that he had over four years left on a six-year deal he signed and that the Raiders “are obligated to pay” him.

Yikes:

But that reminded me: The last head coach for the team was Jon Gruden, who resigned after uncovered emails revealed he had written misogynistic, racist and homophobic comments toward NFL players and staffers.

Gruden had six years left on his contract — remember when he signed a 10-YEAR DEAL?!?!!? —  and Davis reportedly said that the franchise reached a settlement with him.

We don’t have pure dollar figures here. But it’s pretty wild that the Raiders are paying what’s probably a lot of money to two people not to coach the team.

Steelers beat writer floats Mike Tomlin’s friend as new OC candidate

The Steelers aren’t seeking a new offensive coordinator, but if they were…

I don’t know if you know this, but Pittsburgh Steelers fans are down on Matt Canada — something about the offense he designs being in the basement of nearly every statistical category possible.

Steelers Nation has been out in full force vocalizing their displeasure at Acrisure Stadium, Penguins games and road games. Signs to fire Canada have been seen everywhere, including ESPN’s College Game Day. Some are even going so far as to suggest bringing back past coordinators like Todd Haley.

Gerry Dulac, Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, hosts a weekly chat where fans ask questions about the team. One frustrated fan posed, “Who do you expect realistically the Steelers to target in the off-season for their inevitable vacant OC job?”

“Way too early to speculate,” Dulac wrote. But he did anyway.

“But a good one would be a Tomlin friend — Jon Gruden.”

Tomlin and Gruden go way back to their days together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was already on staff as defensive backs coach when Gruden was hired as head coach in 2002, the year they won a Super Bowl together.

It’s tough to say whether Gruden would accept a backup role, but other than a consultant for the New Orleans Saints in the offseason, teams aren’t exactly knocking down his door to join their staff.

The other question would be whether the Steelers would turn a blind eye to Gruden’s intent to “burn down the [NFL’s] house.”

Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders on October 11, 2021, following reports that emails he wrote over a 10-year period included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language. He’s sued the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, arguing that the emails were weaponized against him, in an effort to harm his contractual and business interests.

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Saints can’t afford to not make a change on offense amid historically-poor streak

The Saints can’t afford to not make a change on offense amid their historically-poor streak. They haven’t averaged so few points per game since 2005:

It’s tough to win football games when you can’t put points on the board, and it’s past time the New Orleans Saints address it. It’s time offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael step down into a lesser role, which is what he’s wanted all along. Dennis Allen’s failure to recruit a new play caller led to Carmichael taking a job he wasn’t prepared for, and the results speak for themselves.

The Saints haven’t scored more than 21 points in 10 straight games, going back to last season. Whether it’s Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, or Jameis Winston at quarterback Carmichael has not been able to get the offense moving and driving into the end zone. Carmichael is the common factor.

They’re averaging just 13.8 points points per game this season (not including Rashid Shaheed’s punt returned for a touchdown, and the ensuing extra point kick) which is the lowest since their 14.7 per-game average in 2005. That happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and led to sweeping organizational changes.

A team with so many weapons like this one shouldn’t struggle to score points. A receiving corps boasting Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, and Rashid Shaheed with Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau in the mix shouldn’t be struggling to score twice per game. Carmichael’s latest version of the offense has lost more turnovers (5) than they’ve scored touchdowns (4).

Dennis Allen deserves a lot of the blame. He may have a defensive background, but he’s the head coach, and he’s responsible for putting all of these people in their positions. He couldn’t replace Carmichael (assuming he even tried) in the offseason. He got the quarterback he wanted. Most of those skills position talents we just rattled off have been acquired during his tenure. This is his vision of the team, and it’s a squad that can’t even average 14 points per game, much less 23 points each week (which is league-average).

There’s a tough conversation centering on Allen’s own job security and future with the team. But don’t count on a change in-season. The Saints haven’t fired a head coach during the season since 1980, which was a long time and an ownership change ago. The only realistic “major” change would be demoting Carmichael and giving someone else the opportunity to call plays.

But who? The team has gushed about passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry at every opportunity. He’s called plays in two preseasons now. He may not be a better choice than Carmichael in that role, but he can’t be much worse. And there’s also the specter of Jon Gruden lurking around the team. Carr’s former head coach got more out of him than anyone else in the NFL, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the Saints would add him to the staff if they get truly desperate. Gruden comes with a lot of baggage, but so did Deshaun Watson, and Allen did everything in his power to go get him when he had the chance.

Change is inevitable. The only questions about it are when it will happen, and how it will manifest. Allen is running out of time to come up with an answer.

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Dennis Allen says he ‘wouldn’t read too much into’ Jon Gruden at Saints practice

Dennis Allen addressed Jon Gruden’s presence at Saints training camp, saying he ‘wouldn’t read too much into’ Gruden observing practice | @crissy_froyd

There’s been plenty of talk about former NFL coach Jon Gruden visiting New Orleans Saints practice, with some wondering if he will take things further with the team at some point. That does not seem to be the case, though, as head coach Dennis Allen made clear when he met with the media Friday.

“He’s gonna be here for the next couple of days, he’s really just observing,” Allen said. “There’s not a role we have for him. He loves football, he loves being around it. He comes out here, he watches practices a little bit, if there’s things we can visit with him about, that he can provide some insight for us, we’ll utilize it.”

There won’t be anything beyond that, Allen says, and having spent time with the team’s current starting quarterback seems to be the most obvious reason he’s being used as a resource by the Saints.

“I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Allen continued. “He’s out here observing, much like we had some other guys out here observing, Brett Maxie was out here today observing practice. He’s got a lot of experience with Derek (Carr), so there’s probably some things we can glean from that.”

This is happening less than two years after the Raiders parted ways with Gruden after emails he sent to former Washington Commanders executive Bruce Allen leaked while he was working for ESPN.

Gruden sued NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league under the notion the emails were weaponized against him. The case is currently pending on appeal of whether or not it will unfold in arbitration or court.

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Jon Gruden invited to observe Aug. 4 Saints training camp practice

Jon Gruden has been invited to observe the Saints’ Aug. 4 training camp practice, continuing to share his input as Derek Carr gets up to speed:

Ex-Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden will be making another appearance at the New Orleans Saints practice facility on Friday, as first reported by Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan and confirmed by NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett. Gruden was invited to return to the Ochsner Sports Performance Center and observe the Saints’ Aug. 4 training camp practice while sharing input on their new quarterback Derek Carr.

Gruden previously visited the Saints to offer feedback on coaching up Carr during minicamp practices, but he’s been out of the NFL since resigning due to the backlash from wildly inappropriate comments directed at his peers, coworkers, superiors, rivals, and other people around the league.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen downplayed Gruden’s involvement earlier this offseason, pointing to the success Carr found in his system and how it could help the quarterback settle in with his new team. Carr did post career-highs in completion percentage, passing yards, quarterback rating, and other advanced metrics like adjusted net yards per attempt (ANY/A) under Gruden’s tutelage, and the Saints are hoping to achieve similar results.

So from a purely football-focused perspective (as Allen is using), it makes sense to have Gruden watch a couple of practices and compare notes with the coaching staff. It’s not like the team is putting him on payroll and giving him an email address on their private server.

Still, the optics are obviously bad. Bringing in someone who has been blacklisted by the league due to his racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and otherwise bigoted remarks has upset a vocal portion of the fanbase while drawing criticism from national observers. It says something unpleasant about the Saints coaching staff that they would feel a need to seek Gruden out in the first place. But if he’s able to teach them some things about Carr that leads to points being scored and a return to the postseason, few people will remember this even happened, and that’s what Allen is banking on.

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Could Commanders owner Snyder, have one final trick up his sleeve?

The vote for Washington’s ownership transfer is expected this week.

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One NFL insider is not yet ready to say Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder won’t make one final attempt to mess up everything.

Though Daniel Snyder had his office at the Ashburn facility cleaned out prior to the 2022 season finale home game against Dallas, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is still not putting it past Snyder to attempt something.

“Daniel Snyder is leaving; he wants to leave it all behind him,” said Florio Thursday. He doesn’t want to be responsible for any liabilities that may arise in the future.”

However, there is one item Florio believes could cause problems in this sale to the Josh Harris group this upcoming Friday.

“I overlooked a very important issue of how the NFL and Daniel Snyder will handle the potential for liability arising from the actions of one or the other. Snyder presumably wants indemnification for anything that could stick to him in this Gruden email case.  The league may want indemnification for Dan Snyder for anything that could stick to them, caused by him.”

Florio feels “it is possible that both sides have civil liability to Jon Gruden by the time this is all said and done.”

Gruden may have some leverage in trying to get more of a financial settlement from the NFL. Thus, could this hold up the sale being approved this coming Friday?

Who leaked the Jon Gruden emails? Snyder testified under oath that he did not leak the emails. Bruce Allen testified under oath the NFL told him they did not leak the emails but that the leak came from the team.

How much money will be enough for Gruden to settle? Will the settlement be with the NFL or Snyder?

Florio doesn’t see Snyder wanting to move on so easily. “If he wants to be a jerk, yeah, he can hold their feet to the fire. ‘I want this, I want that. Hey, you want to get rid of me; you give me those things. Otherwise, I’m not going.’ Wouldn’t that be something?”

Meanwhile, Commanders fans, media following the team, franchise employees and the team itself want this to simply be concluded and for Snyder to determine he will quietly ride off into the sunset.

Having made a huge profit, after all.