Apr 28, 2011; New York, NY, USA; ESPN analyst Jon Gruden during the 2011 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

There has been growing speculation that the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones are conducting a plan that will bring Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden from the Monday Night Football broadcasting booth back to the sidelines. The rumors began to gain even more steam once Dallas began hiring a group of former Gruden assistants from Tampa Bay and Oakland.

The Cowboys added Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli, Bill Callahan and Rich Bisaccia to the coaching staff this season and all of the coaches have a relationship with Gruden.

So does the presence of Gruden’s trusted assistant coaches mean that he is any closer to landing in Big D?

ESPN’s Ed Werder is as dialed in as anyone when it comes to covering the Cowboys and he touched base with one of his trusted team sources to see if there was any truth to the rumors. When Werder received a response from the source, it was short and sweep and cleared everything up.

“Ridiculous” is how the rumors were described.

It is believed now that Gruden will be staying in the broadcasting booth for at least one more season, but as long as Dallas has his trusted fellow coaches patrolling the sideline, Gruden will be linked to the Cowboys job,

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Dick Vermeil had a pretty good run as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles back in the late 70s/early80s. But while he made his legacy in St. Louis after coming out of retirement fifteen years after he left the Eagles job, that doesn’t mean Vermeil isn’t still fully invested in the direction of the franchise. That’s likely why Vermeil has come out and openly endorsed Jon Gruden as the next head coach in Philly.

“My choice would be Jon Gruden,” Vermeil told  Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow of WIP radio when asked who Vermeil thought should take the Eagles into the next era of the franchise. “I just think he’s a helluva of football coach, and I don’t want him to make the mistake I made, to wait too long to go back. I just think he’s a helluva football coach and a great personality.”

Up until recently, Gruden hadn’t shown any interest in returning to coaching, but when seven head coaches were axed on Black Friday, Gruden became increasingly curious about his future.

[RELATED: 'Jaws' Thinks Gruden's Future is in Philly]

Now that two former Eagles have come out and pushed public opinion towards Philly when it comes to where he will land, Gruden’s curiosity has our attention.

Earlier this week, former Eagles quarterback and fellow ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said that he thinks his buddy would very much be interested in the Eagles job. Philadelphia has yet to contact Gruden, but after being burned by Chip Kelly and struggling in their coaching search, a phone call might not be far away.

But while everyone seems to be speaking on Gruden’s behalf, we have yet to hear from the man himself. It’s a nice thought to think of Gruden in Philly, as the rumors suggest, but we have to remember if we all had a dime for the number of times Gruden’s been “seriously” linked to a job over the years, we’d all be too rich to care about where he lands.

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Apr 28, 2011; New York, NY, USA; ESPN analyst Jon Gruden during the 2011 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

NFL teams with head coaching vacancies have already brought in multiple candidates as they are conducting their search. One name that has been absent from interviews is former Super Bowl winning head coach and current Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden.

While there doesn’t appear to be much of a market for Gruden at this time, there is one job that he would be interested in taking.

Per John Clark of NBC10 in Philly:

Ron Jaworski on 975 Fanatic says he talked with Jon Gruden. Eagles havent reached out to Gruden, and says Jon would be interested

— John Clark NBC10 (@johnclarknbc10) January 7, 2013

The lack of interest in Gruden has been surprising, so it is possible that his ESPN pal is trying to do him a solid by getting his name out there and in the discussions.

Whether or not Gruden gets an interview opportunity this season remains to be seen, but he is secretly sitting back and hoping for a call from Philly.

December 9, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers former head coach Jon Gruden talks during a presentation celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Super Bowl Champions during halftime against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium. The Eagles won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the apple of their eye, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, decided to leave the Cleveland Browns at the alter, the team is being forced to regroup and reboot their search for a new head coach.

One of the names that is now surfacing for the Browns head coaching gig is Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  

Mary Kay Cabot writes:

Gruden, 49, is a native of Sandusky, Ohio, and played quarterback at the University of Dayton. He also has ties to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam from his time as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 1985-86. His wife, Cindy, is a former University of Tennessee cheerleader.

Earlier this season, Haslam denied a report by WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn. that he offered Gruden a stake in the Browns if he’d coach the Volunteers.

If Haslam decides to go after Gruden, he’d have to lure him out of his comfortable seat in ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth and as an ESPN analyst. Gruden signed a five-year extension with ESPN in September and has said he loves his job. Friends say he’ll only leave the booth for the ideal situation.

Gruden is often targeted and linked to head coach openings, so we will have to wait and see if this latest rumor has any legs. If the Browns do find a way to land Gruden, it will make the fanbase quickly forget about the failed chase of Chip Kelly.

December 9, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers former head coach Jon Gruden talks during a presentation celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Super Bowl Champions during halftime against the Philadelphia Eagles at Raymond James Stadium. The Eagles won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

NFL coaching rumors are starting to heat up and they won’t be going away any time soon. As we examine the possible head coaching candidates for the job openings.

One name that continues to pop up is former Super Bowl winning head coach and current ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden. The talking heads at ESPN want us to believe that Gruden is happy in the booth and tied into his contract with the sports media giant, but the reality is Gruden could return to the sidelines if the right opportunity presented itself.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen acknowledged today on Mike and Mike in the Morning that you have to consider Gruden a viable candidate for the job openings around the league.

“I have to say, we all have to watch our Jon Gruden — ESPN’s Jon Gruden,” Mortensen said. “It makes everybody at ESPN nervous when we say that, but we haven’t heard one way or the other. He is very happy at ESPN, but we know that he is on the tip of a lot of tongues with NFL people.”

If Gruden was to return to the sidelines, you would have to imagine he would want to go to take the best opportunity to hoist a Lombardi Trophy again. He would also want a team with an established veteran signal-caller. That is why you would have to keep an eye on the Chicago Bears.

Another team to watch in the Gruden sweepstakes, that has yet to fire their head coach, is the Dallas Cowboys.

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

For months now, ESPN analyst Jon Gruden has said he has got absolutely no intention of leaving his comfy, multi-milion dollar gig at the four letter network to return to the NFL. For months now, we’ve all been calling his bluff and it appears that the people have been right all long, as Mike Freeman from CBSSports.com is reporting that Gruden is willing to interview for the various head coaching jobs that are both now and soon to be available.

There was a lot of talk about Gruden leaving ESPN to take the Tennessee Volunteers job last month, but those talks eventually went nowhere. But the reason Gruden didn’t take the Vols job, or at least the logic behind it, is that he was holding out for Black Monday and a potential return to the NFL.

From the Freeman column:

However, privately, the Gruden camp has acted differently, and let it be known the former coach is interested in returning to the NFL. This doesn’t mean he will return. This means he’s interested in doing so if the right job opens up.

With the Browns, Eagles and Chiefs job officially available as well as a gig in San Diego on the table, Gruden will be the cream of the crop when it comes to who the  top dog on the NFL coaching market is. Chip Kelly is currently the hottest name out there, but with the supposed declaration that Gruden is willing to listen to offers, college boy is taking a back seat and is now second best.

However, as we fell into it earlier this month, and as we always do, linking Gruden to coaching jobs is like linking Kim Kardashian to sex tapes. It’s going to happen whether we want it to or not, so we might as well just kick back and enjoy it while it’s still interesting.

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Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been over ten years since we’ve seen the likes of Jon Gruden in the iconic silver and black, but we may not have to wait much longer. Like George Lucas went back to the Star Wars well some ten years after Return of the Jedi, the Oakland Raiders are plucking on our nostalgia stings and are reportedly in talks to bring back Chucky to the Bay Area.

. @hub_arkush of @profootballwkly just told @boers_bernstein that Jon Gruden and the #Raiders are in talks to bring him back to Oakland.

— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) December 4, 2012

Before we get all excited we have to remember who we are dealing with. After all the years of that scowl and the gruesome profanity, it turns out Jon Gruden is just as much of a coaching diva as the next guy. From his dangling of the University of Tennessee late last month to his constant plea that he’s fully committed to his ESPN gig, we really don’t know what to believe when it comes to Gruden.

Not helping the matter is still that Nick Saban debacle some years ago where it turns out that no really means hell yes.

Over in Oakland, things haven’t been the same since Gruden left in 2002 to join the Buccaneers (well, technically he was traded there). Sure the Raiders made the Super Bowl that year but they have been a mess every since, and owner Mark Davis has simply had enough. After a loss in Week 12 to the Bengals, Davis admitted he and head coach Dennis Allen got into an argument.

“I wouldn’t say it was heated; the most heated I got was when we first got on the plane and I told him it’s not good enough.” Daivs said. “I told him not long after we boarded: ‘It’s not good enough.’ I admit I was pissed off.”

Pissed off used to be the only expression Jon Gruden had before being handed a microphone softened him up. The only question is will Gruden be the same coach he was before his job at ESPN? To be a stickler, Gruden wasn’t a Hall of Fame coach with the Buccaneers or the Raiders, but he wasn’t Dennis Allen either.

The hope is that Gruden has had some time to ferment and that when he returns to the sidelines, he’ll be an even more wiser and better coach than he was before. For Raiders fans — or fans of whatever team he is hired by — hopefully the wisdom comes hand in hand with the scowl we’ve all come to love.

Nov 10, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; A general view of the Tennessee Volunteers logo on the field prior to the game against the Missouri Tigers at Neyland Stadium. Missouri defeated Tennessee 51-48 in quadruple overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE

As soon as the Tennessee Volunteers had announced that head coach Derek Dooley had been relieved of his duties, the coaching carousel rumors began to link former NFL head coach and current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden to the job opening.

While it was a fun few days discussing Gruden and his possible journey in to the Southeastern Conference, it appears that Gruden had never seriously considered leaving his cozy job in the Monday Night Football booth.

Gruden’s agent, Bob LaMonte, said that the speculation of his client joining the Vols was a “just a fantasy world.”

“He just said there had been a lot of rumors and he just wanted to clear the air,” LaMonte said. “I said, ‘Thank you for the call. I appreciate it.’ He said thank you and that was it.”

In fact, LaMonte stated that he never spoke with Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart.

“I don’t know Dave Hart. I’d never met him or talked to him.”

If Gruden is not looking to make a move to the college coaching ranks, then what can we expect the hot coaching candidate’s next move to be?

“Jon has made it clear he’s committed to ESPN,” LaMonte said.

For now, Gruden will remain with his ESPN job, but you would have to believe he will give a head coaching opportunity more consideration when the NFL comes calling.

Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-US PRESSWIRE

There are rumors swirling all around about whether or whether not former NFL coaching guru Jon Gruden will make a long awaited return to the sidelines. The only catch is that Gruden is rumored to be heading back to college to get a head coaching gig, thus over looking all the potential NFL jobs that will undoubtedly become available in the coming weeks.

But should Gruden come to the SEC and take the coaching job with the Vols, the question will be begged: can the man they call Chucky make a run at overthrowing Alabama’s Nick Saban as supreme ruler of the SEC?

Since arriving at the school, Saban has built a power house and a school that is looking like it’s going to be the next NCAA dynasty. Everyone wants to play for him and those who do usually go on to have promising and successful NFL careers. Heck, even when he loses Saban still finds a way to get into the National Championship game or at the very least get more than just a legitimate shot at doing so.

[RELATED: Jon Gruden to meet with Tennessee athletic director]

However, Gruden is known for being just as fierce a presence, and while he won just one Super Bowl in the NFL, he’s got Saban’s Super Bowl total beat and it looks like that will be the score for the foreseeable future. The next logical step is to come into Saban’s arena and dethrone the king of the SEC. Saban’s won three titles with two different schools in the conference in the last ten years, and while Gruden’s got work ahead of him, he could give Saban a scare.

Next to Les Miles, Saban hasn’t really had a formidable opponent in the SEC, he’s got no Joker to his Batman, which is one of the main reasons people have a gripe with the conference. It’s a super power conference that really has just two super powers within it and a bunch of really good teams after that. Georgia may be in the title game this year, but even though a National Title shot is on the line the game isn’t being hyped as it would be if it were LSU in the game.

Gruden wouldn’t only bring a prowess to the sidelines, he’d bring knowledge, and if I checked the scoreboard right, Gruden’s knowledge is a lot more professional. Sure Saban’s turned out pro players, but Gruden’s actually done something with them. If he applied a hybrid knowledge of college and NFL styles, he may be the guy who finally gets the formula right.

Bad news (potentially) for Saban.

But there is the issue of pressure. Just because Gruden goes to Tennessee (if he even does), he’s got a long road ahead of recruiting and building before he challenges Saban’s title as king of the SEC.

However, just the fact that Saban will be legitimately challenged by someone other than Les Miles on a routine basis is an exciting enough prospect. Plus, Tennessee will get a lot more fans on board across the country who want to see Saban’s rule over the SEC come to an end with Gruden’s gritty face smiling the whole way home.

Jan 2, 2011; Denver, CO, USA; A Denver Broncos fan holds a sign for the team to hire current ESPN Monday night commentator Jon Gruden (not pictured) as head coach during the game against the San Diego Chargers at Invesco Field. The Chargers defeated the Broncos 33-28. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden has been linked to some job openings in the Southeastern football Conference. More specifically, Gruden has been linked to the head coaching jobs at the University of Arkansas and University of Tennessee. It’s very possible that the SEC could soon have another star coach.

Per CBS Sports:

Arkansas and Tennessee both want to hire Gruden. Arkansas reportedly is ready to make its next coach the highest-paid in the Southeastern Conference. We’d still be surprised if the Razorbacks could nab Gruden.

Tennessee is a more logical fit because Gruden’s wife went to school there, and there are signs he could be eyeing a college return. Gruden reportedly has been calling potential staff members with the focus on asking questions about recruiting and other issues that wouldn’t make sense if he was looking at a return to the NFL.

It all comes down to Gruden finding the best job for him and keeping his jobs open. The ultimate goal for Gruden is to return to the NFL, but if no professional teams come calling and he can get a job in college football’s greatest conference, Gruden would make sense to coach either Arkansas or Tennessee.

Would you like to see Gruden make a presence on the sidelines in the SEC?

Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

It seems every year, when teams are searching for (or will be searching for) a new head coach, one guys name is kicked around all the time. Jon Gruden has been rumored to have been coaching anyplace from Ohio State, to Notre Dame all the way up to teams in the NFL. That trend is continuing as the rumors are already starting to brew that if (or likely when) the Eagles part ways with Andy Reid, it will be Gruden leaving the MNF booth to head back to the sidelines.

Howard Eskin from CBS Radio in Philadelphia has taken the first “Gruden to Philly” rumor to the social media airwaves, hitting up Twitter saying sources have told him Gruden wants to coach again and Philly is a likely landing spot.

Could Jon Gruden be the next Eagles head coach. Sources tell me he wants to coach again. IF the Eagles change the NFL assistants r weak,sooo

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) November 8, 2012

For those wondering who Eskin is, he’s the sideline reporter for the Eagles, so when he says he has sources, he’s not pulling a Chris Broussard (see: Talking out of your…you know).

This is all of course hinged on the fact that the Eagles are firing Reid at the end of the season. There’s no guarantee that Jeff Lurie will fire Reid after the season, but the way things are going right now, that looks like a distinct possibility. As Eskin notes, if Gruden is hired, the Eagles will clean house and let go all of their assistants, and the pool of available assistants this season isn’t the strongest pool.

But we’ve reached Week 10 and we already have our first obligatory “Jon Gruden to coach so-and-so team” report of the season.