Jon Gruden refutes report that Jets reached out to him to join staff

Jon Gruden is denying a report that the Jets had reached out to him about joining head coach Aaron Glenn’s staff for the upcoming season. 

Gruden, who has not coached in the NFL since 2021, when he resigned as head coach of the Raiders, has been working for Barstool Sports and has, on numerous occasions, expressed a desire to coach football again. 

Nevertheless, Gruden appeared on 95.3 WDAE in Tampa, Fla., and matter-of-factly shut down rumors about him and the Jets. 

“There’s a lot of reports that we’re not going to get into. As you know, there’s a lot of stupid rumors out there,” Gruden said. “Some of these reports are ridiculous. Let’s just say there was never anything from the Jets, and I wish them well in their search for a new offensive coordinator.” 

The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Gang Green had reached out to the coach about joining their staff, though it wasn’t specified what role he would have with the Jets. 

Though Gruden hadn’t addressed the report when it first came out, his Barstool Sports boss, Dave Portnoy, was quick to chime in on social media. 

“Top 1 most insulting job offers of all time,” Portnoy posted. 

Gruden has not been an NFL head coach since his time with the Raiders. He resigned from the role after emails that he had sent during his time as an analyst for ESPN were published by the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, showing Gruden using racist, sexist and anti-gay language in messages to Bruce Allen, who served as Washington’s general manager at the time. 

Gruden has remained around the game of football, serving as a consultant for the Saints in 2023 and an advisor for European League of Football franchise Milano Seamen in 2024. He has been a part of Barstool Sports more recently. 

Gruden led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title to cap the 2002 season. Over 15 seasons with the Bucs and Raiders — the latter over the course of two separate tenures, he compiled a regular-season record of 117-112 and a 5-4 postseason mark. 

Gruden’s name has popped up in the coaching rumor mill in recent years, though no team has taken a gamble on him as of yet.