Is Jon Gruden leaving Saints for Indiana? Exploring latest coaching rumors after Tom Allen's firing

Jon Gruden has been out of the coaching world since resigning from his head coaching position with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after being embroiled in a controversy regarding racist and homophobic emails he had sent. In May this year, he was invited by the New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen as a consultant for the team.

Now, with the Indiana Hoosiers firing Tom Allen after seven seasons, there have been rumors about Gruden leaving his advisory role with the NFL team to get back to reignite his coaching career in the world of college football.

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Is Jon Gruden going to Indiana?

According to The Atheltic's Burce Feldman, Jon Gruden is one of the potential candidates who could be the next head coach of the Hoosiers. He recently shared a tweet on X which said that Gruden could be a wild card entry for the coaching job with the program among other hopeful candidates in the coming days.

"Among the Indiana coaching candidates to replace Tom Allen: South Alabama's Kane Wommack, Bama OC Tommy Rees, Ohio State OL Justin Frye and a big wildcard candiate who has support with some key IU folks: Jon Gruden," Feldman tweeted.

According to Feldman, Gruden makes regular visits to Bloomington and has strong ties with the program. His father Jim Gruden was a part of the Indiana coaching staff under Lee Corso from 1973 to 1977. Feldman further claimed that Gruden is showing an interest in the position, though the administration is yet to publicly confirm anything.

Despite the rumors, 247Sports' Jeff Rabhjohns has argued that these reports are inaccurate and that Gruden is not a potential candidate for Indiana. The 60-year-old did serve as an honorary coach for the Indiana Hoosiers back in 2017 alongside his father. Currently, Jon Gruden is fighting a legal battle with the NFL over the leaked emails that led to his resignation from the Raiders.

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Jon Gruden's head coaching career

Gruden began his head coaching career with the Oakland Raiders back in 1998. After four seasons, he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their head coach in 2002. In his debut season with the Bucs, he led them to a 12-4 overall campaign and won the Super Bowl XXXVII. However, that was the only Super Bowl he won during his time with the Buccaneers.

After seven seasons, Gruden was fired by the team following a disappointing 9-7 campaign in 2008. The 60-year-old did not take up any other coaching job until 2018. And in the meantime, he formed the Fired Football Coaches Association which was disbanded after he signed a ten-year $100 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2018.

However, Gruden did not enjoy the same success he did previously and ultimately resigned in 2021 following the controversial emails that had been leaked.