Heat Decreases On The Hot Seats, A Little

Few folks will be happier with the news that Jon Gruden has accepted a gig with ESPN’s Monday Night Football than the Dick Jaurons, Gary Kubiaks, and Brad Childresses of the NFL. With Gruden acquiring one of the prime seats in all of televised sports, it’s safe to say that the collection of Super Bowl-winning head coaches who’ll be in the pool for jobs come 2010 has officially reduced by one. Making this assumption even safer is the fact that Gruden’s agent, Bob LaMonte, tells Tom Curran of NBCSports.com that Gruden is likely to stay with ESPN for a “couple of years.” “He definitely has a feeling that he would like to try this for a couple of years. He’s 45 and he’s already won over 100 games, five division titles, and a Super Bowl,” LaMonte said. “He really is a young guy. Some guys don’t even get started as head coaches until they’re 42, 43. For him, he could easily take a [break].” We agree with LaMonte that, at a minimum, Gruden will spend a couple of years wearing a different kind of head set. For starters, Gruden already will make $4 million per year from the Bucs over each of the next three years, and the money he earns via broadcasting won’t reduce that amount. (That said, the Bucs possibly could pick a legal battle with Gruden for failing to try to mitigate his buyout amount by finding other work in coaching.) Moreover, Gruden is now in prime position to remain at the top of the annual “A” list of coaching candidates, with constant visibility and increased credibility as a fixture on what once was -- and what might again become -- the primary choice in appointment viewing for NFL fans. So Gruden can ride out the current economic downturn, watch the Mike Shanahans and the Bill Cowhers and the Mike Holmgrens find other jobs, allow the coming labor battle to conclude, and then wait for someone to offer him a record contract to return to coaching. It’s a no-lose proposition for Gruden. The only problem, as we see it, is that he possibly has bought himself an endless supply of angst over whether he should stick with broadcasting or return to coaching. And, until he makes a decision one way or another as to what he intends to do with the balance of his career, he’ll likely continue to be haunted by whether instead of talking about the game he loves he should get himself back in the thick of it. Complicating matters is that we think Gruden will be every bit as good, but for entirely different reasons, as recently-retired broadcasting icon John Madden. Really, it would be fitting if Gruden fills Madden’s shoes. Both coached the Raiders, and both of their broadcasting careers sprang from a fear of flying. Madden started doing television because he couldn’t bear to get in a plane, and Tony Kornheiser opened a spot on MNF because he was afraid he might have to.