More Gruden and Tennessee Tampa connections

Was listening to the Dan Patrick Show yesterday and he has lead the charge on the rumors that double murder accomplice and soon to be retired Raven linebacker Ray Lewis will be a suit of some capacity on ESPN next year. Patrick started with this months ago and so far things have pretty much followed that script.

The only question is how Lewis fits in. He evidently wants to be free on weekends to watch his son play football for the Hurricanes. That's more than a small hurdle in negotiations. Unless Monday night was open in some way.

And that's where Tennessee comes in. We all remember the rumors emerging from Vol boards and interwebs that current Monday night color guy John Gruden was going to be the new Tennessee coach. Turns out there was some fire there after all. No, he wasn't going to be the next coach in Knoxville. But he is done in the Monday Night booth evidently.

Maybe. Probably. And from there we head to Dallas where the final connections to Tennessee Tampa Bay are being sewn up. Jerry Jones hasn't fired kid wonder Jason Garrett, yet. But he's assembling a staff of curiosity.

It started three weeks ago with the hiring of defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli came next, followed by special teams coach Rich Bisaccia.

A string of three coaching hires in as many weeks, each with ties to the ’02 Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad that won Super Bowl XXXVII, has left plenty pondering if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could be posturing himself for a run at Jon Gruden – the head coach of those ’02 Bucs – to be the next man to call the shots for the Cowboys.

It might sound crazy, but it’s not unthinkable to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if Jon Gruden was the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys,” King said during an interview on KTCK-AM 1310 the Ticket this week.

So Vol fans were right. Gruden will coach football again. Maybe as soon as next season. Perhaps they can take that to the bank...?