Jay Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and was formerly the head coach of the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He is also a decorated player and coach in Arena Football League history, winning four ArenaBowls as a player and two more as a head coach. Gruden is also the brother of former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and current Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden.^[1]

Early years [link]

Gruden attended George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida, where he played quarterback for the Chiefs under head coach Billy Turner.

College career [link]

Gruden was a four-year letterman at Louisville (1985–1988). He finished his collegiate career with 7,024 passing yards, completing 572 of 1049 passes for 44 touchdowns. All four stats still rank in the top five in Cardinals' history. As a senior, Gruden led the team to an 8–3 mark, their first winning season in 10 years.

Professional career [link]

Gruden won four ArenaBowl titles as the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Storm. He was the Arena League MVP in the 1992 season.

Awards [link]

• 1992: League MVP & First Team All-Arena-QB
• 1993: All-Star Game MVP
• 1995: First Team All-Arena-QB (TB)
• 1996: AFL's 10th Anniversary Team
• 1999: AFL Hall of Fame & All-ArenaBowl Team-QB
• 2001: Second Team 15th Team Anniversary-QB
• 2006: No. 4 on the AFL's list of its top 20 greatest players^[2]

Coaching career [link]

Gruden began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator for the Nashville Kats in 1997. Then, in 1998, he became head coach of the Orlando Predators, the main rival of the Tampa Bay Storm. He won ArenaBowl titles in 1998 and 2000 as head coach. He un-retired 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 career record of 93–61, including a record of 11–7 in the playoffs.

From 2002 to 2008 he also served as an offensive assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League under his brother, head coach Jon Gruden. He left after Jon was fired following the 2008 season.

In 2009, while the Predators were on hiatus prior to the folding of the AFL, he 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, he was not permitted to remain head coach of the Predators. Instead, former Preds quarterback Pat O'Hara, who led the team to the two ArenaBowls it won when Gruden was head coach, was hired in his place.

In 2010, he was named head coach of the Tuskers following Haslett's departure to join Mike Shanahan's staff with the Washington Redskins.

Gruden was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals on February 3, 2011.^[3]

Gruden recently signed a 3 year extension with the Cincinnati Bengals as their offensive coordinator,^[4] even after being asked to interview for at least 3 head coaching jobs (The Jacksonville Jaguars, St Louis Rams, and later he turned down the Indianapolis Colts, signing his extension shortly afterwards.)

Personal [link]

Gruden's father Jim, a long-time college and NFL assistant coach, is a retired regional scout for the San Francisco 49ers. His brother Jon was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

External links [link]

• ArenaFan Online's Jay Gruden player page
• ArenaFan Online's Jay Gruden coaching page
• The Football Database's Jay Gruden page (World League of American Football)

References [link]