Some Philadelphia Eagles fans may want Jon Gruden as their new head coach.
While there haven’t been talks between the former Eagles offensive coordinator and the team, there have been talks between his brother and the Birds. This coming Monday, the Eagles will interview Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.
He will be their eighth interview in the past several weeks since firing Andy Reid.
The younger Gruden just completed his second season with the Bengals. One year ago, he signed a three-year extension with the team.
Last season, he interviewed for the Jacksonville Jaguars and St. Louis Rams head coaching vacancies, before turning down the Indianapolis Colts head coaching job that eventually went to Chuck Pagano. In the past few days, he has interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals about their head coaching vacancy.
The Eagles would be his second interview this off-season since the Bengals lost in the Wild Card round last weekend.
“I’ve been a head coach before for a while,” said Gruden. “I know it’s a different league and it’s not in the NFL, but I’ve handled people and handled organization, handled salary caps, done all the things necessary to be a head coach. I understand the game and I think it would be a good fit.”
There are reports that the Eagles are favoriting Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly. Like Gruden, Bradley and Kelly have no previous NFL head coaching experience.
Yet, Gruden is the only one with professional head coaching experience. He was the Florida Tuskers Head Coach and General Manager of the United Football League in 2010 after serving a season as the team’s Offensive Coordinator.
He was also the Orlando Predators head coach in the Arena Football League twice – his first tenure from 1998 to 2001 and his second tenure from 2004 to 2008. He coached in the Arena Football League, while also serving as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive assistant from 2002 to 2008.
He started out as the Nashville Kats offensive coordinator in 1997.
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