Former Ohio State QB Will Howard finds place in Jon Gruden's new venture

Will Howard is taking part in one of the more interesting predraft activities for quarterbacks. Howard has been announced as the inaugural guest for Jon Gruden's new "Gruden's QB Class" show with Barstool Sports.

The former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccanneers coach once hosted the legendary quarterback camp program before resuming his coaching career. Now, he's bringing it back.

Howard is a great candidate to kick off the show. The signal-caller played four years for Kansas State before transferring to Ohio State. In his first and only season with the Buckeyes in his senior campaign, Howard led the program to a national championship. He wrapped up the year with 4,010 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.

During the 2025 NFL scouting combine, Howard struggled with on-field drills, with many believing his draft stock took a dive after the performance. He is projected to be an early Day Three selection in the upcoming NFL draft. If he's able to impress during his program with Gruden, perhaps Howard will regain some momentum.

It remains to be seen how different Gruden's new program will be from the original. Gruden's quarterback camp originally featured a signal-caller doing film analysis with him, on-field drills and simple open discussion. ESPN hosted the program, and it became almost a tradition for top quarterback prospects to take part in the show before the draft.

Jon Gruden and his legendary coaching career

NFL: Miami Dolphins at Las Vegas Raiders - Source: Imagn

Gruden served as the head coach for the Oakland Raiders in the '90s before replacing Tony Dungy with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers in 2002. He coached Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory in 2003 against his former team. Gruden was fired in 2009 after which he took a break from coaching, instead taking on a role as a broadcast color analyst for "Monday Night Football" on ESPN.

Gruden returned to coaching when the Raiders hired him again in 2019, signing him to a 10-year, $100 million contract. However, Gruden resigned in October 2021 after an email scandal that saw inappropriate and offensive language used by the head coach leaked out.

Now, Gruden has returned to the roots he established following the conclusion of his first head coaching stint in the NFL, becoming a big piece of predraft festivities for young quarterbacks.