Report: ‘Growing sense’ Jon Gruden will return as Buccaneers head coach

Jon-Gruden

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, far right, raises his arms to the fans as he is inducted into the team's Ring of Honor on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

With Black Monday fast approaching, rumours about Jon Gruden’s NFL future are swirling again.

According to Pro Football Talk, there’s “a growing sense in league circles” that Gruden will return to the NFL this off-season as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the team that fired him nearly eight years ago.

Gruden, 54, was a head coach for 11 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Buccaneers from 1998 to 2008, leading the latter to a win over the former in Super Bowl XXXVII less than a year after being traded to Tampa by former Raiders owner Al Davis.

Gruden led the Bucs back to the playoffs twice after winning a title in his first season with the franchise, but was let go in January 2009 after going 9-7 and missing the post-season. Gruden joined ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast in May 2009 and has been with the program ever since.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, are in the midst of another disappointing season and current head coach Dirk Koetter is rumoured to be at risk of losing his job after just two seasons with the team.

Tampa Bay has not made the playoffs since the 2007 season when Gruden was still at the helm.

UPDATE: Dirk Koetter will return as head coach for the Buccaneers in 2018, according to multiple reports.

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