The New Orleans Saints are considering adding former NFL head coach Jon Gruden to their coaching staff, according to Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com.
Saints officials and Gruden recently met and there’s mutual interest between the two parties. Gruden previously attended Saints training camp this past August, continuing the consultant/advisory role he started with the team earlier in the offseason.
Gruden, 60, has been out of football since October 2021 when he resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. He resigned from his position after the NFL conducted an investigation into the Washington Commanders for workplace misconduct in which emails Gruden sent then Washington general manager Brad Allen containing racist, misogynistic and homophobic language were discovered. Gruden sent the emails from 2011-18. He is currently suing the league and commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly leaking the emails that forced his departure. The Nevada Supreme Court will decide if his case will go to arbirtration during a hearing this Wednesday.
Jon Gruden, Derek Carr share prior relationship from time with Raiders
Gruden has a relationship with Saints quarterback Derek Carr, having coached him for three plus seasons with the Raiders. Carr had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020 under Gruden, throwing for 4,103 yards, 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions on 67.3% passing. His 101.4 passer rating and 64.3 QBR was the highest of his career.
While Allen’s job appears safe for now, he said during his press conference Monday that he would consider doing different things on offense moving forward.
“We always consider new ideas,” Allen said when asked if he would consider making systematic changes or implementing new ideas to the offensive scheme this offseason. “… I do think there’s some things that we do offensively that have proven to work in our league, and I think we want to keep some of those things. And yet, I think we maybe need to look at how we can do things differently, too.”
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