Gruden, Jon

▪ 2004

      By the time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put the finishing touches on their 48–21 rout of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, the National Football League (NFL) had discovered its latest media darling: Jon Gruden, the first-year coach of the Buccaneers. During the hype that led up to the Jan. 26, 2003, game and throughout the game itself, football fans watching TV were fed a steady diet of sideline shots of the animated coach, whom some compared to Chucky, the devilish homicidal doll featured in the Child's Play series of horror movies. Gruden might have frightened opponents, but he provided viewers with much more than just sideline entertainment. The fiery coach—at age 39 the league's youngest—helped to lift the Buccaneers, once the laughingstock of the NFL, to their first championship.

      Gruden was born on Aug. 17, 1963, in Sandusky, Ohio. His father, Jim, coached football, including stints as an assistant at Indiana University (1973–77) and the University of Notre Dame (1978–80); from 1987 Jim was on the staff of the San Francisco 49ers. Jon attended Clay High School in South Bend, Ind., where he played baseball, basketball, and football, and then moved on to the University of Dayton, Ohio, and its football team, where he played quarterback for three years. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee (1986–87). He then became an offensive assistant at Southeast Missouri State University (1988) and University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif. (1989), before he joined the 49ers (1990). In 1991 he was back at the college level at the University of Pittsburgh, Pa., but in 1992 the Green Bay Packers hired him as their wide receivers coach. In 1995 the Philadelphia Eagles made him their offensive coordinator, and in 1998 he took the Raiders' head coaching position. He guided Oakland to division titles in 2000 and 2001, compiling a record of 40–28 in his first four years as a head coach.

      Though Tampa Bay had in recent years assembled some talented teams, play-off success had eluded them. The Buccaneers fired coach Tony Dungy in early 2002 and, in a move that raised more than a few eyebrows, obtained Gruden from the Raiders for $8 million and four draft picks. While Gruden was known for his offensive coaching ability, it was the fearsome Tampa Bay defense that had carried the team before he arrived, and the skilled motivator found ways to make the squad even better. The Buccaneers held opponents to fewer points (196) and fewer yards per game (252.8) than any other team in the league on the way to a 12–4 record and the National Football Conference (NFC) South division title and the Super Bowl victory.

Anthony G. Craine

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