The Sports Informant

What’s the world coming to when not even Chucky can keep his job?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was fired this morning after seven seasons with the Bucs. He followed a long line of unsuccessful coaches in the NFL this season in getting canned, including both Bay Area coaches. At least Gruden got to finish the whole year.

It’s sad, but hey, it’s America, and when you don’t produce, you get replaced. Here’s the skinny (as the Associated Press reported):

Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen were dismissed earlier in the day, three weeks after the team completed one of the biggest collapses in NFL history, losing four straight games following a 9-3 start to miss the playoffs. 

Gruden was a rising star when he was hired seven years ago to get a team built by Tony Dungy to the Super Bowl. But Gruden only guided the Bucs to the postseason twice after becoming the youngest coach to win the NFL title in January 2003. 

That wasn’t nearly enough for the sons of owner Malcolm Glazer, who took their time before deciding they had seen enough of aging quarterbacks, mediocre drafts and a coach and general manager who often pinned the blame for poor finishes on injuries.

In all fairness to the guys in the executive office, Gruden got a solid seven years to become a legend. In a league where coaches are fired after only four games to start a season and, especially in the case of the Raiders, after only one or two seasons, Gruden’s was given a chance to see his potential develop with the Bucs before being let go–he just peaked too early.

Gruden started a youth movement of coaching in the NFL with impressive playoff runs in his third and fourth season with the Raiders, and a Super Bowl victory in his first with the Bucs. He had back-to-back losing seasons the next two years, though, and despite going 11-5 to win the NFC South the next year, the Bucs lost in the NFC Wild-Card Game, then put forth a 4-12 season the next year.

The Bucs seemed to turn things around after, going 9-7 and making the playoffs the following season, and starting this season 9-3. But a choke job is a choke job no matter what potential there was, and the guy calling the shots gets the blame.

The good news is that Gruden’s not in trouble. He’ll land one of the several open coaching spots in the NFL currently, and at 45 years old, has plenty of coaching ahead of him.

Here’s my question to all of you out there… Could Gruden be on his way back to Oakland? Even if owner Al Davis wants him, does the Raider Nation? Would Gruden even want to come back after he was able to escape?

Look at it this way. He brought the Raiders back to glory once already. His departure was the worst thing that could have happened to Oakland. And the Raiders are a team full of potential looking for a head coach. No one expects anyone to win with the Raiders, so expectations won’t be too high for his return. It could be a good gig for him again.

Then again, there are better jobs on the market. Whoever takes the job with the Indianapolis Colts will be receiving the sweetest gig in the history of football, getting a team already capable of winning a Super Bowl. Gruden followed Dungy’s footsteps before and it led to a Super Bowl in his first season with the Bucs after Dungy left, who’s to say that can’t happen again with the Colts?

The Denver Broncos had their division locked before a collapse of their own, and could potentially be a West Coast powerhouse again next season. And every other team available does not have Al Davis.

If Gruden comes back to Oakland, he should be welcomed with open arms. He’d be doing us a favor. If he turns down the job (if it’s even offered to him), which he should, who would blame him?