The biggest plus for Jon Gruden, who will be announced as the next Oakland Raiders coach on Tuesday, will be the presence of Derek Carr on the roster. Well, non "$100 million over 10 years" division anyway -- Gruden's contract is a monster, but money is irrelevant without success and Carr is a key to success for Gruden.
He likely knows it too, because way back in 2014, Gruden interviewed Carr ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft for his "Gruden QB Camp" segment on ESPN. And the two guys struck it off pretty good.
"I want to go back to David Carr, because he came out in 2002. That's the year I was in Tampa Bay. We didn't have a first-round draft choice -- we had to trade a first- and second-rounder for a star. That was me," Gruden opened up.
Later on Gruden asked Derek if he was better than David.
"Are you better than him?" Gruden asked. "If you're both on the board, who are you taking?"
"I'm taking me. Because I'm a competitor and he'll say the same thing," Carr responded. "He'll say him, I'm taking myself because we are extremely confident in what we do."
At that point Gruden launched off on a rant about why he prefers Derek.
"Nah you can't answer this politically correct. You're not like him at all," Gruden said. "You're in a totally different offense in a totally different era. And your position playing style is totally different.
"Now, I want you. What do you say about that."
"I appreciate that," Carr responded. "Let's go win some championships."
Gruden then launched into a talk about Carr's stats and pointed out that the QB had some monster numbers. He also noted that Carr didn't show up in any mock drafts and that it confused him; Carr said the reality would be different than the perception.
Ultimately Carr would end up falling down to the second round, where the Raiders scooped him up and paired him with Khalil Mack in a draft class that would completely revitalize the franchise.
Now they've gone out and signed their old coach, a Super Bowl winner who last held the playsheet back in 2008, before the Buccaneers fired him.
Gruden isn't wrong though: he IS a star. And he likes his quarterback, although there are some concerns in league circles, as reported by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, that the duo might not get along fabulously.
That would be a surprise given how much Gruden fawned over Carr in the QB Camp video, although it is difficult to find people who Gruden aggressively criticized during his tenure with ESPN.
We'll see how kind he is now that he's back on the sidelines of an NFL team.
