INTRO: I’ve stayed in contact with Jon Gruden over the years since he spent seven years coaching the Bucs from 2002-08. I’ve always loved his coaching style and the passion Gruden has for the game of football. It’s always great catching up with Coach Gruden, especially when it’s the 50th year of the franchise he still loves to this day. Oh, and Gruden is high on Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield and the 2025 Buccaneers, too.
Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams and I visited Gruden inside the FFCA (Fired Football Coaches Association) headquarters this week, where I interviewed him about a wide range of Bucs topics. The video we took of Gruden is dark and grainy, but it totally fits the mood of his lair where Gruden watches film. Enjoy!
FAB 1. Jon Gruden Wants To Coach In The NFL Again
Jon Gruden and I have always had a great relationship born out of mutual respect.
I learned more about the game of football while covering Gruden and his staff, which consisted of coaches like Monte Kiffin, Mike Tomlin, Rod Marinelli, Joe Barry, Rich Bisaccia, Raheem Morris, Richard Mann and others, for seven years from 2002-08 than at any other time in my 30 years on the Bucs beat.
When former Pewter Reporter Trevor Sikkema and I went to visit the all-time winningest Bucs coach at the FFCA (Fired Football Coaches Association) headquarters in Tampa back on July 27, 2017, he gave me the biggest story of my career.
I broke the news that Jon Gruden, who was retired from coaching at the time and working for ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast, wanted to coach in the NFL again.
Scott Reynolds and Jon Gruden back in 2017 – Photo by: Trevor Sikkema/PR
My SR’s FAB 5 column titled “Gruden Wants To Coach Again, Likes Bucs’ Playoff Chances” sent shockwaves through the NFL. That story got picked up by NFL Network, Pro Football Talk and ESPN – reluctantly. ESPN wasn’t too happy about that because he was under contract as the color analyst on Monday Night Football at the time.
Less than a year later, what I wrote became true. On January 6, 2018, Gruden in fact became the head coach of the Raiders once again, signing a 10-year contract with $100 million before being forced to resign on October 11, 2021 after the New York Times published leaked private e-mails to then-Redskins general manager Bruce Allen that included controversial language and derogatory phrases aimed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, then-NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith, Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer and others in the NFL community.
As a result, Gruden’s name was removed from the Bucs Ring of Honor – a distinction he had since being inducted in 2017. After years of laying low while continuing to watch film and host coaches and players at the FFCA headquarters, Gruden took to social media in 2024 where he started his YouTube channel which has over 250,000 subscribers and teamed up with Barstool Sports late last year.
Gruden loves what he does with Barstool and spends a lot of time traveling to college programs and NFL teams to deliver inspirational messages the only way “Chucky” can – with an unrelenting passion for the game of football.
But Gruden still has the itch to coach and wants coach in the NFL again. Eight years after telling me that he wanted to coach in the NFL again, Gruden told me the exact same thing on July 22, 2025 – the day before the Bucs began training camp.
The 61-year old Gruden doesn’t want to be an offensive coordinator. He wants to be a head coach again. He wants to run a team – not just call plays.
Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds and former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden in 2025
With his popularity soaring due to his social media presence, which showcases his infectious enthusiasm for the game and his larger life personality, and being years removed from the e-mails that prompted the Raiders to part ways with him, there is a chance that Gruden could be considered for an NFL head coaching job in the future.
Pewter Reporter Bailey Adams and I went to the FFCA HQ and visited Gruden’s lair, a dark film room where he was busy watching Atlanta Falcons film that morning.
“Yeah, I’m preparing myself to coach,” Gruden said. “That’s why I do what I do. I am coaching, honestly. I don’t have a team, but I’ve got a lot of things I’m doing behind the scenes. I’m visiting training camps, and I’ve had a lot of players and coaches come through here. I have some projects, independent things I’m working on. The Barstool gig has been awesome. Really cool, bright, creative people.
“But I am preparing to coach. I don’t know where, but I love it. I love the journey. I love being on a team and I am preparing to do that certainly. But we’ll see what happens.”
I ask Gruden if he thinks he’ll ever coach again.
“I don’t know,” Gruden replies. “I’ve had some opportunities to get back in.”
I ask him, as an offensive coordinator?
“I’m not going to get into all that, but I’ve had opportunities to get back in. I don’t know what the good man upstairs has in store for me, but I do have a great gig right now. I’m undefeated, and I know a lot of coaches that aren’t really enjoying their job these days. It’s a tough profession. A lot of my friends in high school coaching are getting out of it. A lot of guys in college are really frustrated with the current landscape. There have been so many coaches fired in the NFL in the last several years. You know it’s tough.
“I love living in Tampa, too. This is the greatest place in the world if you ask me. We’ll see what happens, but I’m preparing to coach and help players get better and help coaches improve. That’s what really makes me happy and we’ll see where it leads.”
Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds and Bailey Adams and former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden in 2025
Time heals wounds and can restore reputations. Football is a sport, but it’s also the entertainment business. And Gruden is an entertainment enterprise all to himself. He can sell tickets and create a buzz.
And he can certainly motivate teams, coach football and win games.
Sooner rather than later an NFL franchise comes calling, and if it’s the right fit, Gruden accepts.
Jon Gruden was simply born to coach football. He can’t stop.
Gruden is a grinder and the grind continues.
FAB 2. Jon Gruden Loves Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield And The 2025 Bucs
The last time I visited Jon Gruden at the Fired Football Coaches Association headquarters, he was optimistic that the 2017 Bucs under Dirk Koetter would do good things, but it wasn’t meant to be. Gruden is much higher on Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield and the 2025 Buccaneers.
And why wouldn’t he be? Tampa Bay has won four straight NFC South titles, including the last two with Mayfield at the helm as Tom Brady’s successor.
“He reminds me of Gannon – a guy we had in Oakland,” Gruden said of Mayfield. “He turned our franchise around. Very similar. He can scramble. He can make plays with his legs. He can will it out of himself, will it out of the team. He has a playing … you know Jeff Garcia was similar. Tough playing style that permeated into the locker room. He has a certain vibe to him I think that a winning football team has to have.”
Gruden always preferred coaching veteran quarterbacks as opposed to rookies or young ones. Something tells me that he would’ve absolutely loved to coach Mayfield.
“He’s been through a lot,” Gruden said. “The guy’s been kicked out of Cleveland, kicked out of Carolina, kicked out of Los Angeles. He comes here – 8,900 yards in two years. Pewter Report needs to tell people that nobody in the NFL has more touchdowns than Baker freaking Mayfield the last two years.
“And then to succeed Tom Brady and win two division titles – the guy’s a … he’s a pain in the ass too, man. You’ve got the coach. You’ve got the quarterback. You’ve got the kicker. You have every reason to have a great season. Man, we’ve got a lot of firepower.”
Bowles is much more like Tony Dungy with his calm sideline demeanor than he is like Jon Gruden. In fact, Gruden is more of a firebrand like Bruce Arians, who was Bowles’ mentor. But Gruden, as an offensive guru, has a lot of respect for Bowles, who is a defensive mastermind.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“He lives in my neighborhood, so I know him,” Gruden said. “I don’t know him great. It’s not like we go out golfing every day. But he’s a hard ass – he’s a bad ass. He’s tough. He’s consistent. He’s mentally tough too, man. He handles adversity extremely well. He’s an excellent defensive coach – outstanding. He proved it in the Super Bowl against Pat Mahomes for all those geniuses out there that forgot that. What he did with his defense – Tom Brady deserves and gets a lot of the credit – but that defense was a pain in the ass, man!
“He can mix coverages, disguise blitzes, he can bluff the blitz, he can bring it. He’s a pain in the ass, man. I’m excited to see it. If we can get [Haason] Reddick going, and we can get this pass rush going and healthy again. And these linebackers can come through with these young corners it’ll be exciting.”
Gruden can’t contain his love for Mayfield’s game and the respect he has for Bowles’ defense.
“Mayfield can get you a lead, and if he has his horses healthy, he can unload on you,” Gruden said. “I did not like going up against Todd Bowles. I have a lot of respect for the way his defenses played. They play hard and they were multiple. And they changed every week. I’m rooting for him. He’s a great guy, too. So I encourage Bucs fans to get a ticket, man. And get on the bandwagon. It’s going to be a fun year.”
FAB 3. Jon Gruden Is Back In The Bucs Family For The 50th Season
I’m not going to lie. It stung when the team removed Jon Gruden’s name from the Bucs Ring of Honor back in 2021. I understood why the Glazers did it, but I didn’t like it.
And when they made the right decision to let time heal wounds and reinstate Gruden back into the Bucs Ring of Honor this year, it really made me happy. It started with a reconciliation moment last fall when the Glazers invited Gruden to be at the Bucs vs. 49ers game and join them in their luxury suite. A few months later and Gruden’s name would be back up at Raymond James Stadium.
“I’ve always loved the Bucs and I’ve got a lot of respect for the Glazer family, obviously,” Gruden said. “I’m not going to get into the reconciliation. There was never any bad blood at all. The whole thing that happened with me [with the e-mails] is going to be solved down the road.
“I’m not going to get into that today, but I’m always going to be a Buccaneer fan and a proud alumni of this great franchise going into 50 years. I love Todd Bowles, I love [Baker] Mayfield and I love this team. I’m honored to be in the Ring of Honor, and that’s about all I can say today.”
Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR
The Bucs went so far to welcome Gruden back into the fold that they featured him in the team’s 2025 schedule reveal video. Gruden has a social media schtick where college and pro teams send him boxes of their gear for him to open on camera. The Bucs did the same thing with Gruden and tied it to their 2025 opponents.
“It was great to reminisce,” Gruden said. “In my seven years here, when you start talking about the Carolina Panthers I start bowing up. Or the Atlanta Falcons or the New Orleans Saints. That’s seven years, twice a year. You spend a lot of your life getting ready for those games – big games.
“They have a great schedule this year, they have a great opportunity. This team has won four straight division titles and they are going for the thumb this year. I hope this fifth division title can propel us to a lot bigger and better things. But that was a real cool, creative piece, I think, that those guys came up with. There’s a lot sharper people working over there now than when I was over there.”
FAB 4. Jon Gruden Sounds Off On Pewter Report’s Top 5 All-Time Bucs
In honor of the Bucs’ 50th season, I revealed Pewter Report’s Top 50 All-Time Bucs list this summer on PewterReport.com. The last article in the 10-part series was the Top 5 Bucs of all time and featured Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp at No. 1 and Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks at No. 2.
Jon Gruden coached them and won a Super Bowl with both legends in 2002. This week, I asked him if he had any issue with my Top 5, which also includes Hall of Fame cornerback Ronde Barber at No. 3, future Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans at No. 4 and Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon at No. 5.
Bucs legendary LB Derrick Brooks and DT Warren Sapp and former head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“No, I wouldn’t find any argument for taking Brooks [at No. 1], either,” Gruden said. “You know when you start picking “who’s your favorite guy,” I get six phone calls, “Hey, you son of a bitch!” You know what I mean?
“How can you not take Warren Sapp? I made Warren Sapp tight end, and if I had to do it again, I would have made him play 30 or 40 snaps at tight end. He was a wrecking ball, man, and a great football player, and one of the reasons why I wanted to come to Tampa. He’s certainly the reason we have a Super Bowl championship – the first one. You have to tip your hat to Sapp. But I wouldn’t argue with you – no.”
FAB 5. Jon Gruden’s Buc Shots
• I asked Jon Gruden about where his idea about challenging the Bucs defense to score nine defensive touchdowns in 2002, his first season as head coach in Tampa Bay, came from. Did he have a crystal ball? Because Monte Kiffin’s defense scored five touchdowns during the regular season and four in the postseason, including three in the team’s Super Bowl XXXVII victory over Oakland.
“No, I just knew that we had the firepower to play better,” Gruden said. “They were really good. I also studied the film, and the ball was on the ground quite a bit and we could’ve scooped a couple of those and scored. Instead of intercepting it and just going down, let’s intercept it, get a few blocks and score. I knew we were going to have to rebuild our offense from scratch, and we were going to need our defense to be part of the offense. To win big we needed to score on defense.
“So when you look at Ronde Barber and John Lynch and Derrick Brooks and [Warren] Sapp and [Simeon] Rice and some of the guys we had – and we were in the NFC South for the first time – there wasn’t a dominant quarterback in Carolina at that time. There wasn’t a dominant Drew Brees at that time. Atlanta didn’t have Michael Vick – maybe he was a rookie, but he was just getting started.
“So we should peel our ears back and get after some these guys’ ass. That’s what I wanted them to do and challenged them to do, and I probably ticked them off in the process. That probably motivated them, but that was a big part of the thinking.”
• Legendary Tampa Bay defensive end Simeon Rice, whom Jon Gruden coached from 2002-06, is being inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor this year. It’s a long overdue honor, just like his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With multiple Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl championship and 122 sacks, Rice, who averaged double-digit sacks throughout his NFL career, should be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
“Yeah, the Ring of Honor is great, and justifiable and well deserved and exciting for the Bucs fans,” Gruden said. “He was a dominating player. I hope he does get in the Hall of Fame with those credentials.
“And he should get in the Hall of Fame, but I’m not the one to ask. I don’t have much of a say in that, but what the hell are the credentials to get into the Hall of Fame? I don’t know. But to see Simeon up there with [Warren] Sapp and [Derrick] Brooks and [Ronde] Barber and all the guys that made it happen – I can’t wait to see that day.”
• And finally, I asked Jon Gruden about his thoughts on the new 1976 throwback uniforms that feature the white jerseys with the orange numbers and white pants along with the Bucco Bruce helmet. Tampa Bay is slated to wear that uniform at home in Week 3 against the Jets and in Week 5 on the road at Seattle, which will also be wearing its original throwback uniforms from 1976.
Bucs 1976 throwback uniforms – Photo by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
“First of all, I like the current uniforms better,” Gruden said. “I like the current uniforms and I would love to wear those every week. I love the [1976] throwback ones because they’re cool. You remember when I first came here, our first home game we wore white-on-white. We tried to emulate Don Shula’s Dolphins teams who wore white-on-white at home in Florida in the early part of September.
“I mean it’s hot here, man. So those uniforms breathe. I think it will help the Bucs cool off a little bit in this hot summer heat. I think they’re cool. I think it’s a real respectful thing to do, but I do like our current uniforms and helmet better.”
