Jon Gruden shuts down an AFC team’s coaching interest

Jon Gruden’s coaching comeback in the NFL is not going to happen with the New York Jets.

According to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, the AFC East franchise reached out to the Super Bowl-winning former head coach about potentially joining their coaching staff as an assistant to Aaron Glenn, but Gruden “wasn’t interested.”

It has not been a secret that Gruden wants to lead an NFL team again as a head coach after parting ways with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021.

It can be recalled that in July 2025, Gruden said that he was “working hard to maybe get one more shot” at a head-coaching position in the NFL (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press).

Several months later, Gruden, who steered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win in the 2002 NFL season, remains without a job in the league.

The 62-year-old Gruden is clearly still passionate about football, but his love for the sport doesn’t seem enough for him to accept a position below a head-coaching gig with one of today’s worst NFL teams.

The Jets have not been to the NFL playoffs since the 2010 campaign, and the last time New York had a winning season was in 2015, when the team went 10-6. In 2025, the Jets finished last in the AFC East with a 3-14 record.