default-cbs-image

Have you heard the news? It's Grumor Season!

That's right, while the Grumors have been dormant the last couple of years, they're back with a vengeance following an interview that Jon Gruden did with PewterReport.com. Gruden, as he is wont to do from time to time, told the site that he is interested in getting back in the coaching game at some point.

"I've met with several people -- I won't deny that," said Gruden when asked about a desire to return to coaching. "People -- just about every year I talk about coming back to coach. I'm not in here every day at 4:30 or 4:00 in the morning watching pinball. You know? I'm preparing myself to come back. I am. Every day. I'm preparing to come back.

"It helps me in my broadcasting, and I think if you lose that edge ... you can't come back unless you are totally wired with college football, personnel, schemes, the CBA, how people are practicing, trends, you know. You've got stay on top of this stuff."

Now, before I go any further, let me just state for the record that I don't believe Jon Gruden will return to coaching at any point soon.

If he does return to coaching, it won't be at the college level. Gruden goes on to say in the interview that while he always wanted to coach in college, there are "too many rules" and he'd have any program "on probation within four or five weeks."

I'm sure the idea of a return seems appealing to him on a certain level, but realistically it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean, Gruden reportedly makes $6.5 million a year calling Monday Night Football games. Throw in a playoff game and the occasional college football bowl game and Gruden's calling 19 games a season. That means he's being paid roughly $342,000 per game while getting 33 weeks of vacation every year.

It's a pretty sweet gig if you can get it, and Gruden has it.

So why would Gruden, who hasn't coached in nearly a decade, want to give that up?

Also, on the other side of that coin, who would want to hire a coach that hasn't been on a sideline since 2008? Sure, he's won a Super Bowl and has an impressive resume, but 10 years is a long time to be out of the game, no matter how much film you're watching in a dark room somewhere.

These are all things that make me believe that Gruden's future will be in a broadcast booth somewhere, but reality has always had a difficult time holding off fantasy.

So no matter what logic tells me, or what Gruden himself says, I know that there will be college football fan bases dreaming of the possibility of Gruden coming to town to save their program. When I say fan bases, I don't mean in general; I mean a specific sect: the message boarders.

The ones who care so much that they spend at least half their work day reading message boards and spilling state secrets from their "sources." The fans who are so passionate that they tend to divorce themselves from reality a touch too quickly.

So for this week's Friday Five, I'm ranking the five fan bases which are most likely to convince themselves on team message boards that Jon Gruden is totally going to be their coach in 2018.

5. Arizona State: Todd Graham is certainly on the hot seat entering the 2017 season, and that means Arizona State fans have already begun pooling a list of names for their next possible coach. Gruden will now be added to this list. I mean, why wouldn't Gruden want to give up his cushy job or a return to the NFL for the chance to coach at Arizona State? It's not every year you get the opportunity to play in the Holiday Bowl.

4. Ole Miss: I mean, what coach isn't going to be mentioned by Ole Miss fans right now? We've already seen Chip Kelly and Les Miles thrown out there, and it's only logical that Jon Gruden will be next. After all, Ole Miss is a SEC job, and there is no better job than a SEC job, and of course, all SEC jobs are equal. I mean, just being in the SEC makes it a great job. Anybody would want that job. 

Of course, Gruden's going to give up $6.5 million a year to take over a program that's currently punishing itself while it waits for the NCAA to hand out even more.

3. Notre Dame: Notre Dame message boards are some of the craziest message boards out there, so they'll believe Jon Gruden will come to South Bend should Brian Kelly leave or be fired. It's not like this would be the first time Notre Dame fans have hoped for Gruden, and it makes a lot of sense. Gruden is a very Notre Dame-type of hire. He has NFL experience, and he accomplished great things nearly 20 years ago with a lot of mediocre results since. Gruden will be interested in the Notre Dame job if it comes open, and Notre Dame will be interested in him.

Only if Urban Meyer says no first, of course.

2. UCLA: In 2008, Jim Mora was fired by the Seattle Seahawks. At that time, he had a career record of 31-33 as an NFL head coach. He also had a few years left on his contract, so rather than rush back into coaching, Mora opted to join a broadcast booth.

After a few years on television, Mora was hired at UCLA, and five years later he's entering the 2017 season on the hot seat.

Following the 2008 season, Jon Gruden was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He left with a career record of 57-55 in Tampa. He had a few years left on his contract, so rather than rush back into coaching, Gruden opted to begin a broadcasting career.

I think we all see where this is going.

1. Tennessee: I'm not sure Tennessee fans have ever stopped thinking about Jon Gruden. When he was fired by the Buccaneers, Tennessee had an opening of its own. That's when the Grumors first began in Knoxville, but of course we know that's not how it worked out. Tennessee didn't hire Gruden, opting for another former Raiders coach in Lane Kiffin instead.

Then Kiffin left, and the Grumors began anew, but Tennessee hired Derek Dooley.

Then Dooley was fired, and the Grumors returned, but Tennessee instead hired Butch Jones.

Now Jones is on the hot seat, and a couple of years ago Gruden referred to Tennessee as a "dream job." Those two words alone will keep the fires burning on Tennessee message boards even if Gruden came out and said: "I would rather die than coach on the college level."

And I will be here for all of it.

Honorable Mention: Arizona, Auburn, Texas A&M, Texas Tech