Maybe Jon Gruden was just sandbagging everyone Wednesday. Maybe he isn't really a football Luddite but is instead ready to devour data and analytics.
Otherwise, he's setting himself up for failure in his second stint with the Raiders.
Gruden said all sorts of interesting things during his media session at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. When he was asked about utilizing next-level information, Gruden sounded a lot more stone age than new age.
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"Man, I'm trying to throw the game back to 1998," he said. That was Gruden's first year in Oakland; the Raiders finished 8-8 after going 4-12 the previous season.
For good measure, he added, "I still think doing things the old-fashioned way is a good way," with emphasis on "good."
Hang on a second: This is Jon Gruden, whose preparation habits with the Raiders and Buccaneers were considered extreme even by NFL coaching standards. Remember the whole sleep-in-the-office, 20-hour-day narrative? The idea of Gruden as a relentless grinder trying to gain every advantage?
Doesn't that sound like someone who would love having access to arcane info, especially if it could help his team break a big play in a big spot? Of course it does.
Gruden knows the direction today's NFL is going. He alluded to that Wednesday (go back to the video above) when he discussed his work on ESPN's "Monday Night Football." His brother is an NFL head coach, in case you forgot.
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In fact, Gruden said a couple things that would seem to put the lie to his other, less-than-progressive, statements.
First, he allowed that he would have "professional" people help him with data, a funny thing to mention after saying "people don't even know how to read" the reams of information that's provided. It's difficult to believe Gruden is that far in the dark about analytics.
Second, he said he was "envious" of the Patriots and their adaptability.
Pats coach Bill Belichick is a football lifer and a historian par excellence, but he's also a man who plays the percentages and follows trends, as these articles spell out. (See: FOURTH-AND-2 INSIDE HIS OWN 30!) It can't be an accident he keeps finding offensive skill players who click with Tom Brady (and not just because it's Tom Brady.)
If Gruden is saying nice things about the franchise that crushed his Super Bowl dreams 16 years ago and has stayed on top in the intervening years, why wouldn't he try to join 'em while he also tries to beat 'em?
Or is he really committed to leading his team down a 20-year-old path, one that would seem to lead to medocrity or worse?
