(AP)
Jon Gruden has a cush gig at ESPN as an NFL analyst. So cush, in fact, the former Super Bowl winning coach has turned down numerous opportunities to leave the network for another coaching opportunity. He turned down the Tennessee Volunteers, the school who gave him his first shot at coaching as a grad assistant, twice.
Yet, today on “The Paul Finebaum Show”, he referred to the Vols coaching job as his “dream job”.
However, Gruden has failed to practice what he preaches, and could be considered a reason why the Volunteers suffered brutal setbacks in the post-Phillip Fulmer Era. Gruden initially turned the job down in 2009, and the Vols made the ill-fated decision to hire Lane Kiffin. After just one season, Kiffin spurned the Vols to become head coach for USC. The Vols, again scrambling for a coach, reached out to Kiffin once again, and once again Kiffin turned Tennessee down.
The Tennessee job appears untouchable for now with Butch Jones turning things around, which may be the reason Gruden feels comfortable calling it his dream job.
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