"Once a Raider, always a Raider. Never been more appropriate than today."
That's how Raiders owner Mark Davis introduced Jon Gruden on Tuesday for his second run as the team's head coach.
The Raiders hire Jon Gruden, twenty years apart (1998 & 2018) pic.twitter.com/Mn9FuxGguf
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 9, 2018
SIGN UP to watch every NFL game live on DAZN
After a video montage of his first tenure , Gruden told a room packed with reporters, cameras and former players how emotional and excited he was to have another opportunity.
"Obviously this is very emotional for me. I never wanted to leave the Raiders. I never thought I’d be back. But here I am and I’m ready to get to work," Gruden said. "I love football, I love the players that play it and I love the journey."
The Raiders touted Gruden's hire as "unfinished business” after Gruden went 38-26 in four seasons as the team's coach from 1998-2001.
Gruden was traded to the Buccaneers before the 2002 season and won the Super Bowl in his first season, beating the Raiders in Super Bowl 37. Gruden spent seven seasons as the Bucs coach but was fired following the 2008 season after a 9-7 season. He compiled a 57-55 record in Tampa and had worked for ESPN since 2009.
"I’ve wanted to come back. I’ve prepared to come back. I’m ready for another challenge, and I’m eager to prove I can do it," Gruden said with his trademark arching eyebrows and scowl. "I have a lot to prove. I haven’t won a game since 2008, but I haven’t lost one either."
Gruden's new contract is expected to be a 10-year deal worth $100 million, but he didn't comment on the terms.
"All I know is this year I’m coaching in Oakland," he said. "How long I stay here will be determined by how well we play."
The Raiders are set to move Las Vegas in 2020, and Gruden vowed to give the fans in Oakland "two of the best years of football I can possibly deliver."
"I love the Raiders," he said. "And most of all I love to win."