Former Redskins head coach Jay Gruden joined the Junkies on Friday morning, fresh off his first-ever hole-in-one on Thursday, which the guys heard all about in detail.
Gruden is currently unemployed after being an NFL consultant last year, and while he’s loving golf and would love to be a Sports Junkie, he’s not sure he’ll ever be on the sidelines again, at least as a boss.
“I don’t think I could be head coach again; I’d have to work my way back up, and I’m getting old, and not a lot of people want these old guys,” Gruden said. “The league has changed and is going after a younger generation of coaches. Maybe another league, if these leagues like the XFL and USFL work out – but I don’t really miss it all that much, getting up at 3 a.m. and all that work. I miss the competitiveness on game day and the people part of it, but I don’t miss all of it.”
Looking at the team he used to coach, though, Gruden thinks Sam Howell can have a little more success than most are giving him a chance to, simply because of his skill-set.
“It takes time for these young players to develop, see the looks and go through the progressions, but the thing about Sam is he’s very athletic, so he can use his legs to make up for some deficiencies,” Gruden said. “That’s a good thing. He’s mobile, so he could be successful a little sooner than a true drop-back quarterback. You don’t go into a season and start a guy like Sam Howell if you’re one and done, so this is the team’s chance to keep the coaches around for a long time if he can succeed.”
And, there’s reason for optimism.
“If you look at the game against Dallas, you have high hopes, because he showed the ability to run and throw the deep ball, and did some good things,” Gruden said. “If you have that ability, and the ability to be a leader the players like, you have to have that intent. The only way you’re going to get a quarterback is to get lucky and draft one, or go 0-17 and get the top pick – and maybe if he struggles, you leave him in there and do that! But if they are what they think he is, he can be their meal ticket for a long time.”
Hopefully, he’ll be better than Carson Wentz was, not just in DC but before that, too.
“He didn’t play very well in Indianapolis if you watch the tape – they had a chance to make the playoffs and he played one of the worst games I’ve ever seen – but I think he’s struggled since his injuries,” Gruden said. “He still has talent and ability, but his back and his knees, he’s a different quarterback than he was before those injuries.”
Listen to Gruden’s entire call in to the Junkies above!
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