John Harbaugh Has Strong Words for Ex-Raiders Coach Jon Gruden

Getty

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

Following his resignation from the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021, Jon Gruden stayed out of the public eye for a while. He’s been slowly making his presence felt again and has been seen at NFL practices in recent years.

This time around, he was John Harbaugh’s guest at Baltimore Ravens training camp. The two never actually worked together at the NFL level, but both got their first big jobs with the Philadelphia Eagles.

They’ve formed a relationship over the last three decades, and Harbaugh was happy to have Gruden giving his team some pointers.

“He loves football, he’s a great football coach, great football mind,” Harbaugh said, via BaltimoreRavens.com. “He studied our team, gave us some insight – players, coaches, schemes, all of it.

“We didn’t give him the playbook, we didn’t give him a script either. You can only go so far. He studied us. Basically, the message was, ‘If I was game planning against you on defense, what would I do, how would I attack you?’ He didn’t just stop there. He watched our offensive guys. He had something for each player. Very, very detailed.”

Gruden Wasn’t Scared to Call out Ravens Players

Gruden is all about football, even when he doesn’t have a coaching job. Deep down, he’ll always be a coach. According to Harbaugh, Gruden quickly slipped back into coaching mode at Ravens practice and even tried to coach up players.

“He was letting them know where they could get better, which I respect,” Harbaugh said. “I think a great coach is not afraid to tell people where they can improve. Doesn’t every player want to know that? He has so much respect for guys, but still letting them know, ‘Hey, this is what I see you can improve on.'”

Gruden’s seen a lot of football, so there’s certainly nothing wrong with having him at practice. That said, it’s hard to imagine the Ravens will be asking him to join the offensive coaching staff.

Maxx Crosby Talks Gruden

While Gruden has become a controversial figure off the field, his players have consistently gone to bat for him. One of those players is Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. He was there when Gruden had to resign and gave some insight into how the coach responded to the situation.

“I went to Gruden’s house right after it happened,” Crosby said on the “Glory Daze with Johnny Manziel” podcast. “He was just sitting in his living room. He was just sitting in the corner like the godfather, and he couldn’t even look me in the eyes, he was (expletive) up and he was tearing up.”

It’s entirely possible that Gruden will never be a head coach at the NFL level again. College is certainly possible and could potentially be an even better fit. Regardless, Crosby thinks he’ll be back in some capacity.

“The dude is addicted to football, that’s all he does, and I think he will get another opportunity, whether it’s college or being a head coach somewhere or coming back to the league and doing it at some point,” Crosby said.