Jon Gruden was officially announced as the Oakland Raiders’ next head coach at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. It brings the Raiders back to their glory years of the early 2000s when the team was consistently contending for a Super Bowl title.
It also reminds us that former Raiders great Rich Gannon is still close to the team, and could potentially be joining Gruden’s coaching staff.
If that were to come to fruition, Gannon might have to mend this one broken fence.
Gannon: “I don’t care how hard Derek’s worked before. He’s going to have to change his work ethic a little bit to fit in.”
— Jimmy Durkin (@Jimmy_Durkin) January 9, 2018
“I don’t care how hard Derek’s worked before,” Gannon said. “He’s going to have to change his work ethic a little bit to fit in.”
That’s a lot of criticism to be thrown out in one quote. It also comes amid reports that Gruden’s relationship with Derek Carr might not exactly work out as planned (more on that here).
Gruden and Gannon remain close to this day. The two spent three seasons together in Oakland before Gruden was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2001 season. Needless to say, Gannon is not an outsider when it comes to Gruden’s coaching mentality. He could also very well join a newly-formed staff in Oakland.
Rich Gannon said he’s hasn’t had the conversation yet about joining Gruden’s staff. “That’d be a major decision.” Sounds open to it though.
— Jimmy Durkin (@Jimmy_Durkin) January 9, 2018
This is most definitely something to keep an eye on as the building blocks are set in Oakland for contention moving forward. Carr inked what was then the richest contract in NFL history this past offseason. But he’s also coming off a disastrous 2017 campaign en route to leading Oakland to a disappointing 6-10 record.