Jon Gruden wants a second chance coaching, but does he deserve it?

The story was bound to emerge sooner or later, once the penance was deemed sufficient.

Jon Gruden wants to coach football again.

In an exclusive interview, Gruden told CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello that he is preparing to resume his coaching career but is most intrigued by doing so at the collegiate level and not in the NFL.

"I know I can help a team, I know I can help young players get better, and I know I can hire a good staff, and that's the only thing I can guarantee," Gruden told Marcello in his office in Lutz, Florida. "But yeah, I'm very interested in coaching at any level, period."

Jon Gruden wants to get back in the game.

In his first interview since offensive emails led to his messy exit with the Las Vegas Raiders, Gruden tells @CBSSports he wants to coach again -- and this time as a college football coach.

Exclusive: https://t.co/Fa46O4pdUh pic.twitter.com/MVrUHQ3GhZ
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) September 18, 2024

Gruden's potential candidacy remains problematic due to his abrupt 2021 ouster from his previous head coaching role with the Las Vegas Raiders. The uncovering of emails containing language that was homophobic, misogynistic and derogatory, including a racially insensitive metaphor to describe NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, led to his resignation.

Gruden sued the NFL in November 2021 alleging that commissioner Roger Goodell and the league intentionally leaked the emails to get him fired. In July, Gruden's attorneys lost their bid to reverse three Nevada Supreme Court judges' decision to allow the NFL to move the case out of state court and into arbitration.

Asked by Marcello if he had any remorse for what he wrote in the emails, Gruden refused to comment because he hasn't had his "due process yet." However, in 2022, he did admit he was "ashamed about what has come about in these emails and I'll make no excuses for it."

Jon Gruden at the Little Rock Touchdown club commenting on the emails that ended his NFL coaching career. pic.twitter.com/1ClcWtdTRn
— Steve Sullivan (@sully7777) August 30, 2022

Being out of the game for three years and not having run a college program before would be on the list of concerns for any school. The biggest issue, though, would be the constant questioning of Gruden's character by recruits and their families in the aftermath of his email scandal.

An athletic director from a Group of Five school told Marcello that it would take "a pretty strong level of agreement or disagreement" to go forward with Gruden's candidacy. Rival programs also would use the email controversy as a negative recruiting tactic.

"If it comes to that, then I have to ask myself, is all that imputed risk worth the payoff?" the AD asked.

One response in the affirmative is all Gruden is hoping for. But it would come from the most desperate of college football programs, one in need of a big-name hire splash.

Jon Gruden wants a second chance coaching in college, but does he deserve it?

By Joe Lago | Sep 18, 2024