There was talk this offseason that Jon Gruden could be lured to return to coaching with the Eagles. But Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie says that talk didn’t come from Gruden himself.
In fact, Lurie said today that when he reached out to Gruden, Gruden told him in no uncertain terms that he will remain ESPN’s Monday Night Football color commentator in 2013 and will not be a head coach.
“Jon made it clear that he was not coming back to the NFL this year,” Lurie said.
But while Lurie did not interview Gruden for the team’s head coaching vacancy, he did pick Gruden’s brain: Lurie confirmed that he asked Gruden’s opinion about Chip Kelly, and that Gruden told him he had attended an Oregon practice and came away impressed with the way Kelly runs his team.
Some day, Gruden may coach against Kelly in the NFL. But that day will not be in 2013. Gruden is staying in the booth.