Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded two first-round draft picks, two second-rounders and $8 million to the Oakland Raiders in February 2002 to pry Jon Gruden out of the final year of his contract with the Oakland Raiders. Gruden took over a championship-caliber team, following the firing of popular Coach Tony Dungy, and led the franchise to its first world championship, defeating ironically the Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII at San Diego.

Labeled as a whiz kid and bright offensive mind early in his career, Gruden was groomed in the NFL as an offensive assistant and wide receiver coach under Mike Holmgren in Green Bay. In 1995, at the age of 31, he was h…? Show more ?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded two first-round draft picks, two second-rounders and $8 million to the Oakland Raiders in February 2002 to pry Jon Gruden out of the final year of his contract with the Oakland Raiders. Gruden took over a championship-caliber team, following the firing of popular Coach Tony Dungy, and led the franchise to its first world championship, defeating ironically the Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII at San Diego.

Labeled as a whiz kid and bright offensive mind early in his career, Gruden was groomed in the NFL as an offensive assistant and wide receiver coach under Mike Holmgren in Green Bay. In 1995, at the age of 31, he was hired as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles and in ’98 became the youngest head coach in the NFL at the age of 38 when he was hired by the Raiders.

Gruden took over a Raiders team that finished 4-4 and went 8-8 his first two seasons, then 12-4 in his third, with the Raiders reaching the AFC Championship Game but losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore. Oakland made the playoffs again in 2001, but were eliminated by the New England Patriots in the infamous “Tuck Rule” game in the snow at Foxboro, Mass. A month later, Gruden signed a five-year, $17.5 million deal with the Bucs. His fiery and emotional ways were credited with elevated the Bucs, who’d failed to score a touchdown in their three playoff losses, with the kick the team needed to get over the hump and win a championship.? ? Show less