Football’s worst-kept secret is a secret no more.
Jon Gruden is the new coach of the Raiders, the team announced this evening. The announcement followed a week of reports that Gruden had agreed to take the job -- and came just hours after Gruden called his last game for ESPN.
During that game, Gruden’s broadcast partner Sean McDonough repeatedly alluded to his plans to coach the Raiders, and Gruden repeatedly insisted that it wasn’t official. Obviously, Gruden had already taken the job, and now he can stop being coy.
Gruden is now beginning his second stint coaching the Raiders. Last time he began to have a rift with Al Davis and eventually left for Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. This time he appears to have a close relationship with Mark Davis, and the Raiders are hoping he can win another Super Bowl -- in Oakland or in Las Vegas.