Aug 29, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden walks onto the field before the start of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Jon Gruden Calls Notre Dame Assistant a ‘Future Star’ in Coaching

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 3:15 PM ET

Ask a diehard football fan what their dream job would be an it would almost certainly involve being around football on a daily basis.

That's exactly the life former NFL head coach Jon Gruden has lived, as his father Jim was coaching football at a high level as Jon was growing up. That led to Jon attending Clay High School in South Bend as Jim coached Notre Dame's running backs under Dan Devine.

Jon now works for Barstool Sports where he's able to clearly have fun while teaching and discussing football. One of his acts has been to unbox packages he's sent from different football teams nationwide, and discuss the teams while unpacking loads of merchandise.

On Thursday, it was Notre Dame's turn, and Gruden seemingly turned into a kid again while doing so.

Jon Gruden Receives Massive Package from Notre Dame

Notre Dame shipped Gruden a massive gold box full of goodies, which Gruden cracked open in a video that was released Thursday. Take a watch below as the former Super Bowl winning head coach seems to dip his foot in the fountain of youth and turn into a kid again, talking about some of Notre Dame's great players and teams of yesteryear.

Look at what box just came through the doors of the FFCA... it might be the box of all boxes.

THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH, MAN!

My dad used to coach running backs at Notre Dame, and I went to high school in South Bend!

Thank you Coach Freeman and @NDFootball for this box!! pic.twitter.com/URKaT7WdYk
— Jon Gruden (@BarstoolGruden) August 7, 2025

There's a lot to like here as it's just fun to see Gruden talking about a program that clearly means a lot to him.

A heads up though, Jon: Brandon Aubrey only played soccer at Notre Dame, not football.

Jon Gruden Praises Up-and-Coming Notre Dame Assistant Coach

There was a lot to take in during that roughly eight minutes but towards the end, Gruden mentions a young Notre Dame assistant coach to keep an eye on in the years to come.

"One of my favorite young coaching prospects, Tre Reader. Reader. Remember that name."

That could be as simple as the fact Reader, a former Notre Dame player turned recruiting analyst, is from Tampa and could have had some kind of relationship with Gruden, but whatever the case it's rather kind praise.

Old Jon Gruden to Notre Dame Rumors Remembered

MPS-Imagn Images

If you were around for Bob Davie's firing from Notre Dame then you surely remember the Jon Gruden rumors to Notre Dame. Athletic director Kevin White was looking to replace Davie and at first, Gruden didn't shoot down rumors, while Steve Mariucci across the San Francisco Bay, immediately did.

He eventually did though, turning down Notre Dame and staying with the Raiders - temporarily, at least. Gruden would eventually be traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he helped them to their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.

For what felt like a week though back in late 2001, there was hope that Gruden was going to be Notre Dame's next savior. I would have loved to hear him talk about that in the video.

Perhaps Marcus Freeman and the equipment staff can send another quality box and get that some of that information out of him.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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