Fact check: Is Jay Gruden related to Jon Gruden?

Football coach Jay Gruden previously worked as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars. Before that, he was the head coach of the Washington Redskins for five years. Gruden is the younger brother of Jon Gruden, a former head coach in the NFL who won one Super Bowl.

News that the New Orleans Saints are considering Jay Gruden for their vacant offensive coordinator job has grown in the past few days. He most recently served as an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams. From 2014 to 2019, he led the Redskins as their head coach. He also worked as an offensive coordinator for the Jaguars in 2020.

Did Jay Gruden play football?

Jay Gruden's father was once a high school coach. He also served as a scout for the San Francisco 49ers and an assistant coach at Notre Dame. Jon Gruden's brother Jay is a TV analyst. However, he once won a Super Bowl while coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

These are all meant to highlight that Jay Gruden comes from a football-loving family. He played as a quarterback for Louisville University. Jay Gruden also played in the AFL, CFL and World League of American Football from 1991 to 2003 before focusing entirely on his coaching career.

Gruden gave coaching a go for the first time in 1997 while still being a player. Before being hired as the head coach of the AFL's Orlando Predators, he was employed as the offensive coordinator of the Nashville Kats. He earned two AFL titles with the Predators.

Gruden earned six AFL championships: two as head coach and four as a player. After that, he was employed by the Cincinnati Bengals as their offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, he was interviewed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers. But none of them selected him as their head coach.

Gruden took Mike Shanahan's place as the Washington Redskins' new head coach before the 2014 campaign began.

The Redskins fired the head coach early in the 2019 season following his 0–5 start to the campaign. He was 35–49–1 at the end of his head coaching career.

He has since taken up assistant positions with the Rams and the Jaguars.