Colts owner Jim Irsay pursued Jon Gruden for head coaching job

Jon Gruden has been out of the NFL for almost a decade, but his name is always tied to any potential opening.

It has been nine years since Jon Gruden last coached an NFL game, but every year his name always pops up around head coach openings or potential openings. This year is no different. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay did indeed reach out to Gruden as a potential replacement for Chuck Pagano.

Irsay made the surprising decision last year to stick with Pagano as his head coach and Ryan Grigson as his general manager after a disappointing season. The Colts followed up an 8-8 effort in 2015 with another 8-8 campaign in 2016. Defensive struggles have been an issue the past two years for a team that made the playoffs in each of Pagano’s three seasons at the helm.

As amazing as it would be to see Gruden calling the plays for Andrew Luck and the high-powered offense in Indy, it appears he has no interest in returning to the sidelines. His profile with ESPN has grown considerably over the years, to the point where he is calling Monday Night Football and is heavily involved in coverage leading up to the draft. His contract currently runs through 2021 with ESPN.

Gruden coached 11 years in the NFL, finishing with a 95-81 record, five trips to the playoffs, and a Super Bowl win in 2002 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His name comes up annually as the coaching carousel spins after each season, but has never come close to returning to the sidelines.

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With the rumors out that Irsay went fishing for a high-profile name like Gruden now confirmed, it’s hard to see Pagano and Grigson keeping their jobs for another year. Both remain under contract, but the owner has made it perfectly clear that he is in the market for a new coach. Never conventional, Jim Irsay may have dug himself a hole to big to climb out of this time.