If you're a Tennessee Vols fan, you're likely very familiar with Jon Gruden and his supposed involvement in a couple of UT football coaching searches.
During the 2012 and 2017 Tennessee coaching searches, "Grumors" became a spectacle that generated an insane amount of interest among Vols fans.
Gruden, a former Tennessee graduate assistant under Johnny Majors, was seemingly never close to taking the UT job, but the rumors that he was interested in the job took on a life of their own.
During both of those coaching searches, Gruden had plenty of opportunities (he was on Monday Night Football every week during both searches!) to shut down the rumors, but he never did. If anything, he stoked the fire a bit.
At one point in the middle of the 2017 coaching search, when the Grumors were at a fever pitch, Gruden mentioned Rocky Top, unprompted, during a radio interview with a station in Seattle.
I mean, come on. Gruden knew exactly what he was doing by making that reference.
That's why many Vols fans concluded that Gruden let the Grumors continue because he loved the attention.
And after Gruden's stunt this past week, I think we can all agree that the attention aspect is exactly why the former NFL head coach let the "Grumors" linger.
Jon Gruden pulls another attention-seeking stunt
Gruden spent eight seasons total (1998 to 2001 and 2018 to 2021) as the head coach of the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. It's a franchise and fan base that he loves .
So why in the world was Gruden recently spotted hanging out at Kansas City Chiefs training camp? While wearing Chiefs gear nonetheless...
The Raiders and Chief are bitter rivals. Gruden knows this as well as anyone. Yet there he is, glad in Chiefs gear.
One reason is because Gruden and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid have known each other since their days together with the Green Bay Packers in the mid 90s.
Another reason is the attention.
The Raiders/Chiefs rivalry kicked up a notch this summer when Raiders players were filmed mocking Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with a Kermit the Frog puppet.
Gruden seemingly seized the opportunity to get right in the middle of the drama by popping up at Chiefs camp. It's the same strategy he took with the Grumors and the Tennessee job.
Gruden is nothing more than a novelty at this point. Always looking for cheap ways to keep his name in headlines. Though to his credit, it seems to work. Maybe we're the suckers...
Related: Tennessee fans will love how 5-star QB Faizon Brandon spent his Monday morning after committing to the Vols
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