Jay Gruden

Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He previously served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins from 2014 to 2019 and as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars. During his time in the Arena Football League (AFL), Gruden won four ArenaBowls as a player and two more as a head coach. He is the younger brother of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden and was an assistant coach of the 2002 Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII.

Early life Of Slovene descent, Gruden was born on March 4, 1967, in Tiffin, Ohio, and was raised a Roman Catholic. He attended George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida, and played quarterback for the Chamberlain Chiefs high school football team under head coach Billy Turner. Gruden earned All-Western Conference First Team recognition.

College career Gruden attended the University of Louisville, where he was a four-year letterman at Louisville Cardinals football team (1985–1988). Gruden finished his collegiate career with 7,024 passing yards (as of 2013, fourth all-time for the school), completing 572 of 1,049 passes for 44 touchdowns. All four stats still rank in the top five in Cardinals history. He also ranks in Louisville's top 10 for yards per completion, passing attempts in a season, and completions in a season. Gruden ranks eighth in career completion percentage, seventh in career passing efficiency, and ninth in average yards per game for the Cardinals. He threw for over 300 yards in a game six times at Louisville. Gruden led the team to an 8–3 record as a senior, their first winning season in 10 years.

After his playing career ended, Gruden remained active with the football program at Louisville, gaining his first coaching experience as a student assistant in 1989 and as a graduate assistant in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

Professional playing career Upon the conclusion of his college playing career, Gruden was signed to the Miami Dolphins practice squad after an injury to starter Dan Marino shortly before the 1989 season opener, but was waived several days later. He then had brief stints with the Barcelona Dragons and the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF in 1990, while continuing to gain coaching experience at his alma mater of Louisville as a graduate assistant.

Arena In 1991, Gruden turned his attention to indoor football, signing with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. Gruden won four ArenaBowl titles as the starting quarterback of the Storm, only briefly leaving the team in early 1995 for a training camp stint with the Scottish Claymores of the WLAF. Upon realization that he would be the Claymores third-string quarterback, he returned to Florida and immediately resumed his role as the starting quarterback for the Storm.

Gruden was named the league's MVP in 1992, and is contemporarily considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in arena football history. After stepping off the field to coach, Gruden returned to the field in 2002, playing quarterback for the Orlando Predators for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before retiring again from playing football.

Honors and awards 1992: League MVP & First Team All-Arena 1993: ArenaBowl VII MVP 1993: All-Star Game MVP 1995: First Team All-Arena 1996: AFL's 10th Anniversary Team 1999: AFL Hall of Fame & All-ArenaBowl Team 2001: Second Team 15th Team Anniversary 2006: Ranked fourth on the AFL's list of greatest players

AFL career statistics Legend AFL MVP Won the ArenaBowl Led the league Bold Career high

Year Team Passing Rushing Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rtg Att Yds TD 1991 TB 127 199 63.8 1,504 26 11 96.39 17 55 21992 TB 189 305 62.0 2,491 50 15 106.8 13 37 0 1993 TB 188 312 60.3 2,516 41 14 100.05 15 15 1 1994 TB 206 368 56.0 2,597 49 12 97.84 9 32 2 1995 TB 197 352 56.0 2,787 44 11 99.94 20 7 0 1996 TB 275 447 61.5 3,626 70 14 113.25 8 −14 0 2002 ORL 310 501 61.9 3,621 68 20 101.06 7 −4 0 2003 ORL 183 313 58.5 2,334 49 2 118.35 5 −2 0 Career 1,675 2,797 59.9 21,476 397 99 104.72 94 126 5

Coaching career

Arena Football League Gruden began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator for the AFL's Nashville Kats in 1997. In 1998, Gruden became head coach of the Orlando Predators, the main rival of the Storm. With Orlando, he won ArenaBowl titles in 1998 and 2000. Gruden came out of retirement and resumed playing in 2002, this time for the Predators, but retired again and returned to head coaching when his replacement, Fran Papasedero, died after the 2003 season. Gruden has an overall AFL head coaching record of , including a mark of in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers From 2002 to 2008, Gruden served as an offensive assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League under his brother, head coach Jon Gruden, earning a Super Bowl ring for the Buccaneers' victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Gruden left the team after his brother was fired following the 2008 season.

Florida Tuskers In 2009, while the Predators were on hiatus during the bankruptcy reorganization of the AFL, Gruden was selected to be head coach Jim Haslett's offensive coordinator for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. As part of his contract, Gruden was not allowed to remain head coach of the Predators. Instead, former Orlando quarterback Pat O'Hara, who led the team to its two ArenaBowl titles when Gruden was head coach, was hired in his place.

On February 20, 2010, Gruden was named head coach of the Tuskers following Haslett's departure to join Mike Shanahan's staff with the NFL's Washington Redskins.

Cincinnati Bengals On February 3, 2011, Gruden was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. On January 13, 2012, he signed a three-year extension with the Bengals at the position, even after being asked to interview for at least three NFL head coaching jobs (with the Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams, and later turning down the Indianapolis Colts).

In January 2013, Gruden was interviewed by the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Diego Chargers for their vacant head coaching positions. Gruden's offense helped lead the Bengals to three straight Wild Card playoff appearances, including the AFC North title in 2013.

Washington Redskins On January 9, 2014, Gruden was hired as the new head coach of the Washington Redskins, succeeding Mike Shanahan. Since Gruden was a highly sought-after coach, Redskins owner Dan Snyder gave him a fully guaranteed, five-year contract worth $20 million. Washington finished with a 4–12 in Gruden's first season in 2014.

In the 2015 season, Gruden led the Redskins to their first playoff appearance since 2012. The Redskins would go on a four-game winning streak to finish the season and win the NFC East with a 9–7 record. However, they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round 35–18, ending their season. In 2016, the Redskins finished 8–7–1, but missed the playoffs. This marked the first time the team posted back-to-back winning seasons since the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

On March 4, 2017, Gruden signed a two-year contract extension with the team. In the 2017 season, he led the team to a 7–9 record. In the 2018 season, the team finished with a 7–9 record once again. On October 7, 2019, he was fired after starting the season with a 0–5 record, finishing his overall tenure with a record.

Jacksonville Jaguars On January 22, 2020, Gruden was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as their offensive coordinator under head coach Doug Marrone. Alongside Marrone and the rest of the team's coaches, he was fired after the team finished with a franchise-worst 1–15 record.

Los Angeles Rams Gruden was as an offensive consultant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.

Head coaching record

AFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostTiesWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultORL9502nd Southern 3 0 0 ArenaBowl XII ChampionsORL7703rd Southern 2 1 0 Lost to Albany Firebirds in ArenaBowl XIIIORL11303rd Southern 3 0 0 ArenaBowl XIV ChampionsORL8603rd Southern 0 1 0 Lost to Chicago Rush in Wild Card GameORL10602nd Southern 0 1 0 Lost to Chicago Rush in QuarterfinalsORL10602nd Southern 1 1 0 Lost to Georgia Force in NC FinalORL10601st Southern 2 1 0 Lost to Chicago Rush in ArenaBowl XXORL8803rd Southern 0 1 0 Lost to Philadelphia Soul in NC Wild Card GameORL9702nd Southern 0 1 0 Lost to Cleveland Gladiators in NC Wild Card GameTotal82540 11 7 .611

UFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostTiesWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultFL20105302nd in UFL 0 1 0 Lost to Las Vegas Locos in 2010 UFL Championship GameTotal530 0 1 .000

NFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostTiesWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultWAS20144120 4th in NFC East – – – –WAS2015970.563 1st in NFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to Green Bay Packers in NFC Wild Card GameWAS2016871 3rd in NFC East – – – –WAS2017790 3rd in NFC East – – – –WAS2018790 3rd in NFC East – – – –WAS2019050 Fired – – – –Total35491 0 1 .000

Personal life Gruden's father, Jim, a long-time college and NFL assistant coach, was a former regional scout for the San Francisco 49ers. His brother, Jon, was the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning a Super Bowl in 2002. Gruden's other brother, James, is a radiologist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.