Grumors are back. Tennessee just isn’t at the forefront of them this time.
Successful former NFL coach Jon Gruden is back in the news this week after Georgia football posted a clip of him talking to the Bulldog football team this week. During his speech, Gruden expressed his desire to coach again and said he would love to do so in the SEC.
“I’m being honest with you. I do not bullshit either. I want to coach again,” Gruden said. “I’d die to coach in the SEC. I would love it. I would f**king love it.”
Within the context of the speech, Gruden was telling Georgia players how every coach and player in the SEC would love to come into Athens and knock off a Georgia program that’s been the SEC’s best in recent years. The Bulldogs won the SEC Championship in 2017, 2022 and 2024 as well as national championships in 2021 and 2022.
Gruden last coached for the Raiders from 2018-21 and was fired after emails surfaced where he used racist and homophobic language. The Raiders subsequently fired Gruden and the Super Bowl winning head coach had been out of coaching since.
But 61-year old Ohio native has returned to the public eye over the last year after accepting a job with Barstool Sports. Gruden’s enthusiasm for football has made him a popular football analyst and has led to rumors about him returning to coaching surfacing.
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Tennessee football has been in the middle of Grumors in the past 15 years. Gruden was a popular head coaching candidate for the Vols during both their 2012 and 2017 coaching searches while he was color commentator on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Gruden started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in the 1980s, working for legendary head coach Johnny Majors. Both Gruden’s wife and son are Tennessee graduates and the Ohio native has often talked positively about Tennessee both during his time at ESPN and now at Barstool Sports— even telling star Alabama receiver Ryan Williams that he “hates” the Crimson Tide as a Tennessee guy.
The Dayton graduate has addressed Tennessee’s interest in him during prior coaching searches, explaining his interest level in the job and why he did not accept it. But at the time, Gruden returning to coaching always seemed to be more likely in the NFL. With how his second Raiders tenure ended, it’s unclear whether a NFL team would hire Gruden making a coaching return in college more likely.
Of course, Tennessee has finally found its correct coach after 15 years wandering in the college football wilderness. Josh Heupel is 37-15 in his four years as Tennessee’s head coach, leading the Vols to 10-win seasons in both 2022 and 2024. The Vols won the Orange Bowl in 2022 and made the 12-team College Football Playoff a season ago.
Heupel is nowhere near the hot seat at Tennessee, making a match between Gruden and his wife’s alma mater incredibly unlikely. But there’s a number of major SEC coaches on the hot seat entering the 2025 season. If Auburn, Florida or Oklahoma making coaching changes after this season, Gruden could be a popular candidate if his desire to coach in the SEC proves earnest.
