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Update: Jon Gruden's agent calls the entire Gruden-to-Vols rumor-industrial complex "just a fantasy world." He denies speaking to Tennessee until Friday morning, and then only to clear the air.
There are now multiple reports, national and local, that Jon Gruden will not be the next head coach at Tennessee. This is something that can be said every two years. We tried to warn you about this, but it kept dragging on anyway, and now it's all right back where it started. No, seriously, every two years:
- 2008: Gruden says taking Tennessee job isn't in his future, by ESPN.
- 2010: Jon Gruden turns down Tennessee's advances, by the Sporting News.
- 2012: Jon Gruden tells Vols he's not interested in coaching position, by CBS Sports.
There are probably similar examples going all the way back to 2 A.D., but you get the idea.
Watching the Gruden rumors feels like watching NFL people praise Tall Quarterback X while discounting Russell Wilson. We're supposed to be smarter than this, college football people.
Gruden has no real college experience, hasn't coached in years, and might not even be a great NFL coach. Yet we'll start this all up again in 2014, since ... maybe Gruden's on two-year deals with ESPN? I don't know.
Who's next for Tennessee? Probably Jon Gruden, I think.
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