The Loop
Jon Gruden remains the best "mic'd up" coach of all time
Jon Gruden's second stint in Oakland has been heavily scrutinized, and rightfully so. Not only are the Raiders 4-11, but their former franchise player Khalil Mack helped the Chicago Bears win just their second NFC North title in the last decade. Adding insult to injury was their former top wide receiver Amari Cooper igniting the Dallas Cowboys passing attack en route to their third NFC East title in the last five years.
While the Mack and Cooper deals netted Oakland three first-round picks, many are still calling into question Gruden's 10-year, $100 million contract. But he's quietly set the Raiders up nicely for the future, and he has the team playing much better football of late. Oakland has gone 3-3 in their last six games, including an impressive Monday Night Football victory on Christmas Eve over the division rival Denver Broncos. Gruden happened to be mic'd up for the game, and he reminded everyone why he might be the best coach to be wired for sound in NFL history. Here's one clip that should make any doubting Raider fans come back around on their former and current head man:
Gruden telling Denver wideout Tim Patrick to "shut the f--- up"... oh yeah, that's the good stuff.
Is Gruden back? Based off that video, we'd say yes. It looks like everybody (that's still on the team) is on the same page, and Gruden appears to have them heading in the right direction. There's a few more gems in the full video, which you can watch here at raiders.com, including Gruden taking all his anger out on one ref and asking him "what the f--- are you looking at?", and using all-time football guy sayings like "let's throw some more bricks on the pile." It's a cornucopia of coach speak from the the GOAT of coach speak: