It was reported last week that the New Orleans Saints had enlisted the help of former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden to help install their new offense.
The reasoning being that Gruden had worked extensively with new Saints quarterback Derek Carr, and the two had some success in putting up yards and points together.
Given the manner in which Gruden left his head-coaching position with the Raiders in 2021— with a report from the New York Times that he had used racist and anti-LGBTQ language in emails — there was going to be the potential for some backlash with that decision.
Saint head coach Dennis Allen was not at all concerned with that possibility, and defended his use of Gruden.
Here is what he had to say, via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell:
“Look, I mean, No. 1, we’ve had several coaches come and visit. Obviously, Jon’s a guy that has a lot of experience with Derek and Derek has had his most success under Jon Gruden. And so we felt like bringing him in, having a chance to sit down and visit with him as an offensive staff, with the quarterbacks and just getting some new thoughts and ideas of things we might be able to implement.”
He added that the Saints are going to use every avenue available to improve, and that everybody involved thought it was beneficial.
There is no doubt the latter part is true simply from a football perspective. Gruden’s West Coast offense is similar to what the Saints will run this season, and having that sort of football mind around can only help everyone with New Orleans’ offense.
It does further prove though that winning is the only thing that matters in the mind of NFL head coaches.
There does not appear to be any sort of push for Gruden to get another full-time job in the NFL anytime soon following his resignation from the Raiders, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers even removed him from their Ring of Honor following his email scandal. The Saints, however, saw some value in using him on a part-time basis.
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