Can’t quite bring myself to bail on Mark Richt … just yet

Mark Richt is at a turning point in his coaching career. (University of Georgia)

Mark Richt is at a turning point in his coaching career. (University of Georgia)

Some of you are ready to write off the Mark Richt era in Athens.

I’m hearing this from fans who normally are not quick to call for a coaching change. They look at the downward trend in Georgia’s SEC results since the last conference title and figure the die is cast, even though most concede that Richt’s past record has earned him another season after this one, no matter how badly it ends.

And they’re not looking forward to watching that prolonged scenario play out.

Me, I’m not a big fan of change, as my wife frequently notes. I tend to stick with something way past when others would have bailed, whether we’re talking cars, VCRs, old shirts or football coaches.

I’ll admit, the precipitous decline of Georgia’s football program has me teetering when it comes to the Bulldogs’ prospects under Richt. The recruiting obviously has been subpar for several years, the development of talent has been less than impressive, and the players frequently look undisciplined, on and off the field, raising serious questions about the coaching.

It’s true, a couple of key blue-chip recruits can turn around a program nearly overnight, but as I’ve heard more than one fan say in the past couple of weeks, “Why would a five-star recruit want to come to Georgia right now?”

For me, the most disturbing aspect of it all is the seeming lack of urgency among the players and coaching staff. Facing the prospect of starting out “one and whatever the crap we are,” as Mike Bobo put it Saturday, they still were outhustled in Starkville, for crying out loud!

And yet … if Richt coaches his tail off and somehow turns this season around — which at this point would pretty much require winning out, including beating Florida — it will make for one of those feel-good stories that fans and sports media alike love.

Do I see it happening? Frankly, at this point, no.

Still, I can’t yet bring myself to say the words I heard an ardent and intelligent UGA fan utter Saturday night: “I’m done with Richt.”

A COUPLE MORE THOUGHTS ON THE GAME

I know, I know, it’s like picking at a scab, but I can’t let the Mississippi State game go just yet …

Like, for instance, what was going on with that Georgia drive in the fourth quarter where Bobo not only insisted on continuing to try to run up the middle, but was trying it with little Carlton Thomas, the Dogs’ third-string back. Had even Bobo given up on Washaun Ealey and Caleb  King?

It sounds like Richt was wondering a bit, too, as he said after the game, “At times we just called running plays blindly. We were going to run the play no matter what, and there were times where we had success and times where we got hit in the mouth.”

Maybe now Richt will bigfoot Bobo and insist on a change in direction. With the Dogs’ offensive line getting manhandled and the backs not breaking many tackles, it’s obvious that continuing to try running play-action out of the I-formation just isn’t working. Our main running threat is our quarterback!

Perhaps it’s time to go to the spread most of the time with Aaron Murray in the shotgun and let him just make plays, whether it’s slinging the ball around or running the QB draw. Spreading things out might make it a little less easy for opposing defenses to jam the line like they’ve been doing so successfully. And if we make opponents defend the pass first, maybe that increases the odds of occasionally breaking a long one on a misdirection counter play with our backs.

Couldn’t be any less effective than what the Dogs have been doing the past three games. …

As for the defense, I still think the linebackers and secondary will figure out the pass coverage one of these days. But Georgia is as soft up the middle as I’ve ever seen them. With our undersized line, everybody’s going to try to run up the gut against the Dogs. It’s well past time for Todd Grantham to figure out a way to bolster the middle.

The Dogs can’t wait for him to recruit the big bodies he needs up front. By the time that happens, this staff may not be in Athens any more. Time to earn those big bucks now.

Find me on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter.

621 comments Add your comment

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:08 am

Here is the deal. We are all screaming about BoBo’s play calling. Well I agree, but here is the bigger picture. BoBo, as OC, is responsible for the backs, the line, and the receivers. It is his job to make sure that they are conditioned, can execute the plays, and HOLD ON TO THE FOOTBALL. He is responsible for the overall development of the Line and entire offensive team. If I am badly mistaken, his job is much more than X’s and O’s period. Play calling is one thing, but there is serious chemistry missing on the offensive side of the ball. Another thing, I believe we are really not playing the most talented players in THEIR best position. Kianti Tripp is a good lineman. Where is he? Defense and hardly playing at all. Nick Williams- Safety or LB and playing very little. We are in total disaray as to where to play our guys.

Bill, I am with you. I do not want to see CMR gone- Yet. We will see in the coming days just how committed he is to turning this program around and if he really bleeds Red and Black. I hope he does look in the mirror and down deep. He does not appear to be an arrogant man, so let’s hope he is honest with himself and can see the real issues like most fans that are sitting in the seats. For all of those calling for his head- it is in the best interest of the Bulldog Nation to pull together, support CMR, and this team for the rest of the season. Let’s see what he is going to do. I hope he can make the tough decisions because of his commitment to bring UGA a NC and not because he is being forced.

Jim

September 27th, 2010
9:10 am

Bill — I agree with you. But Coach Richt has to prove that he is a great head coach which means assembling the right players and the right staff. He made a giant step in that direction by changing defensive coordators. He has to make a few more changes to keep me on his side.

TazzDawg

September 27th, 2010
9:11 am

Everyone saying MR should fire Bozo and hire an offensive genius aren’t seeing the full picture. Yes, I agree, the Bozo must go!

MR may fire Bobo at the end of the season, and hire a new OC. However that OC won’t be what you think he will be. This is MR’s offense, MR is the offensive genius (sic) on this team. This is his playbook, his gameplan, yes he approves everything Bobo does, don’t think any different. He even knows the plays Bobo is calling during the game!

With that in mind do you really think anything will change offensively?

This team still cannot block, tackle or cover anyone in the secondary. Where is the 5 star running back of the future.You mean King and Ealey are the best backs Richt could recruit the last 5 years? Not counting Moreno.

It seems MR rebuilds every 3 years. Why can’t he recruit to fill the holes while rebuilding. Truth is other then Stafford, Moreno, and AJ Greed, who has he really recruited. OK, I’ll give you Murray!

MR is just not getting it done anymore, his heart ain’t in it. Its as plain as the nose on your face!

MR needs to go and take the spray on tan with him!

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:17 am

Tazz, alot of truth in your comments; however, I guess I am willing to roll the dice looking at giving him a chance (rest of season) or totally killing our recruiting and starting from scratch with the entire program.

UGAG is gitting the ncaa death penalty, he he ha ha

September 27th, 2010
9:21 am

LAST IN THE SEC:::GSU RUNS THIS STATE….HE HE HA HA

UGAG is gitting the ncaa death penalty, he he ha ha

September 27th, 2010
9:24 am

GSU CHALLENGES UGA TO A SINGLE GAME OF FOOTBALL, WINNER OWNS THIS STATE….TOO CHICKEN?

Jackson

September 27th, 2010
9:26 am

Bill,
I think you are on the same page as a lot of us. I look at things from 2 points of view.
1. If we replaced Richt, who would we go with? A. TCU Gary Patterson – Perhaps the best choice. He has an inside to track to recruit Texas and the pedigree of good Defensive teams. B. BSU Chris Peterson. The Dan Hawkins experiment at Colorado leaves me a little wanting for this direction. C. An NFL pedigreed coach… D. some other coordinator I am not thinking of… Either way, I don’t really see a lot of options on the table that would indicate Richt would be easily replaced. We all may want the hottest coach in the land but having said that, let’s look at two recent events. 1. Tennessee… A top level program that has to find its coach on down the line with Derrick Dooley. I think he will be a good coach at some point but I am sure it wasn’t Tennessee’s first choice. 2. Todd Grantham was definitely not our first choice. These two items make you wonder where we would be able to plug and play a head coach.

Secondly, if we review what Mark Richt has done over his tenure, I am more and more inclined to believe that Brian Van Gorder had more to do with our success then people give him credit for. He is now the D coordinator for a much improved Falcons D and is on the fast track to getting a head coaching job in the NFL… much more prestigious than a DI college football program (think 32 vs 117 teams). Having said that, when Richt was the offensive coordinator, we saw better success than we did with Mike Bobo. Also, I think the fact that Neil Callaway is a head coach speaks to the fact he must have been a better coach than Stacey Searls. Put all of those things together and there needs to be some changes in the offensive side of the ball as well.

I don’t place all the blame on the offense. After all, we are paying a guy $750,000 to coach our defense and we are not getting bang for the buck at all. We do not have the personnel to run an effective 3-4 not do I see us being able to find the players to really run a true 3-4. The D coach has to run schemes that fit the team not make the team fit the scheme… I learned that in kindergarten…. round peg does not fit square hole. Grantham has got to figure out what he is doing and quick.
Offense… My analysis on our offensive woes does not start with the O-Line. It starts with our play packages. Murray has an arm but is slow on his release which is why you see the deep ball coming up short. My biggest concern is our inability to get the ball into receivers hands on the short routes…think west coast style plays. There does not seem to be an effective package to do that. Additionally, and this is all Mike Bobo, we are not running multiple threats out of the same package. We line up in the I formation and either run the ball or play action deep. Very predictable. Where are the shorter routes. We have a mobile QB, why aren’t we changing the launching point? Where are the WR screens and the jail break screens? Where are the zone read blocking schemes? If we can block one on one, why aren’t we doing a better job running the counter tre or scheming a one step and read play? Just my thoughts Bill on the state of affairs at UGA football.
As for the arrests, what more can a coach do? I have said it once, I will say it again. CMR must institute a big brother program. Upperclassmen are paired up with underclassmen… Seniors with Sophomores, Juniors with Freshman. These should be guys who can be called night and day to help each other out of jams. If one of the pair gets in trouble, the other gets in trouble. I.e. the situation on Saturday night would have resulted in 1, player getting kicked off the team and 2, his mentor would have been suspended for the next game.

TazzDawg

September 27th, 2010
9:27 am

Top – I agree, let him finish the season. However, the AD better have his names lined up and ready to call for an interview. It took MR 3 years to fire WM. Loyalty to a friendship is bigger to him then loyalty to a program. What makes any of us he will fire Bobo at the end of the season, even though every dawg fan can see Bobo is over matched as an OC.

MR is a good man, He’s really not a great coach, no matter what anybody says. He has compiled a great record, but, since Saban, Cryer, Spurrier (has returned), and Petrino have moved to the SEC, MR’s coaching philosophy shows a glaring deficiency next to those guys. And UGA’s record is going downhill fast and the program is going down faster.

He’s just not getting it done!

Jborodawg

September 27th, 2010
9:30 am

I’m not ready to bail either. Who we gonna get? Neither Muschamp nor Smart are likely to leave there present circumstances.

“…But Georgia is as soft up the middle as I’ve ever seen them…”
Yeah, I reckon. But, haven’t most of the “big plays” we’ve given up been toward the perimeter? Guys just way outa position.

“…With our undersized line…”
That’s why when everyone was drinking the koolaid of Grantham’s hire and going to the 3-4 puzzled me. You gotta have certain players for that D. The old rule of putting players in the best position suited for them. I’m not sure we had enough of those type players, particularly the line.

And, you run the draw thinking you’ve got one of the best O-lines and they should be able to block and the runner should be able to bust one out every now and then. And Carlton did bust one out. Problem is, it was only one (that I can remember).

I don’t think recruiting is particularly “down”. We’ve got quite a few 3 and 4 star players. How many do Boise St and TCU have? Heck, far as that goes, how ’bout Cincy from last year (top 10 team)?

I’m not ready for us to turn into another Vowels nor Awbun. It’s shameful the way Fulmer and Tuberville were treated. It’s bad enough the way Adams treated Coach Dooley.

I do agree we pretty much gotta win out the rest to be “respectable” again. Yall notice how other teams think of UGA as a “major” opponent and think their season is made when they beat us? EG they were delirious at S.C., Ark AND Miss St; “…one of the greatest wins ever for the program…” reactions.

Letting Baker go “should” send quite the signal. Hope it works. BTW, he’s a 4-star recruit.

Now is the time to support the team. Let’s go to Colorado and GATA!

Go Dawgs!!!

TazzDawg

September 27th, 2010
9:31 am

I should add to Bobo being over matched as an OC, that of course means he is responsible for anything on the offensive side of the ball. I mean is he really? We all know this is MR’s offense and offensive philosophy!

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
9:36 am

He should fine each asst coach 2k for every player of theirs that get arrested.That would clear up all the off field crap in 1 season.

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:36 am

I noted on TB’s blog this morning that I watched the Bama vs Arky game and saw a lot of similarities to the UGA offensive game plan to that of Bama. Obvious difference is the caliber of players and coaching or both.

Problem in Athens is the “CULTURE” that has permeated the football team. Until the expectations and culture is changed, the results will continue to be the same. I’m tired of the cliche defining insanity but those of you who think things will change fit that cliche.

Bail on the current line of thinking, or go down with the ship….

Jborodawg

September 27th, 2010
9:37 am

BTW, Ealey din fall on the ball probably cause he got his helmet knocked off and his bell rung just a little. But, that WAS an easy seven points for the other bulldogs. AND, the case can be made that the ground caused the fumble. A coupla plays here and there for both the O and the D, and we could be undefeated. Damm if it aint a game of inches.

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:40 am

Jboro, it’s a little early to be drinking the kool aid this morning isn’t it? It was clearly a fumble. Why doesn’t that game of inches ever seem to go our way if that’s the case. Old Lady Luck doesn’t hate us that much does she?

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:40 am

SouthGADAWG- Now there is a dang good idea.

dave

September 27th, 2010
9:42 am

Ok morons, listen up. Richt is going nowhere soon. The buyout in his contract is huge. He is not stupid when it comes contract time. He knows he will have to make changes. I think he will. Go Dawgs.

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
9:43 am

One thing to consider on kicking guys off your team to please the public.Meyer will play and START players with Dui’s and failed drug tests.He will take those players and kick UGA’s ass with them too.

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:45 am

Mark Richt needs some on the job CEO training if he’s to succeed. Reckon McGarity has enough patience to school MR.

gamebreaker.

September 27th, 2010
9:45 am

UGA needs to step up recruiting out of state. Just took a look at UGA’s roster. Looks like 90% is from GA. Where are the CA, TX and FL players? UGA seems to stay in the state exclusively. http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/geo-m-footbl-mtt.html

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:45 am

I still have an issue with reigning Grantham in. This team needs someone breathing fire when they screw up. I think it is the only thing this team responds to. Grantham needs to be able to coach with his style short of pulling a Woody Hayes. Based on his ESPN interview, he had his wings clipped. Bad Signal. It is also quite obvious that these guys do not believe in themselves or their teammates and maybe coaches. Therein lies one of the biggest obstacles to turning this team around. If Grantham has truly been shackled, then the issue with CMR is much deeper than I think.

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:48 am

Somebody has to be your Dawg. Haven’t you ever heard the line, when you’re mad, go home and just kick your dawg? CMR just went home and kicked his, maybe he still has a pulse, anger can be a good thing when channeled in the right direction. I’m not changing my position, just looking at all the perspectives. Poor Baker. Shouldn’t he have known better?

TazzDawg

September 27th, 2010
9:49 am

Top – I was going to say the same thing about MR and TG. Here you have a coach with a fire burning in his belly to succeed and have his players to succeed. Mr. Nice Guy, clips his wings? Thats bad mojo!

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:49 am

Didn’t see the interview on CTG, what did he say?

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
9:49 am

One difference between Athens,Gainsville and Tuscaloosa.It seems that it’s a lot easier to get arrested in Athens.

Jeff

September 27th, 2010
9:50 am

Quick question Bill- DO THE DAWGS HAVE TO WIN FOR YOU TO STAY A FAN……PRETTY QUICK TO CAST VOTE ON COACH RICHT….TAKE A LOOK TO THE NORTH YOU IDIOT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE QUICK TO GET RID OF A GOOD COACH…do we have issues that need to be addressed…yes! do we need to get rid of a few assistant coaches…yes! but UGA fans better be very careful about wanting to get rid of coach richt….you think its bad now…..again, to the idiots that even thuink about this crap- take a look in hillbillieville

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:52 am

ESPN interviewed him after the SC game and commented on the change in demeaner between the LLF game and SC. He responded indirectly that he was told to tone it down on the sidelines. Haven’t seen him get in a players face since.

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
9:53 am

Fire is the most overrated phrase thrown around in coaching!Whopeedoo I guy yells and screams so what?Goff and Donnan both had more “fire” than Richt…and?So did Lou Holtz and Spurrier…so?Searles has that “fire” they say….so?

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:55 am

You can show fire, brimstone and passion without using profanity. Passion should never be toned down on the football field, unless it’s uncontrollable.

Maybe CMR is one of those implants designed to implode a program after a designated period. Could it be that UF is paying him on the side?

dan

September 27th, 2010
9:55 am

Why do people keep saying ” We have the talent but…”?

I agree with everyone when they they that our coaches are idiots( I have also said that Mark Richt is the problem for the last 2 years, so the current predicament doesn’t suprise me). But except for a few key positions, this team isn’t that talented! So this notion that the Dawgs should win on talent alone is a dumb one. Other teams have talent too you know!

Top Dog

September 27th, 2010
9:55 am

I think that the majority of the True UGA Fan base is pulling for CMR. Frustrated that he didn’t see this coming- yes. Hoping that he will surprise us and take a firm stand to right the ship. Hoping that he is now a little faster on the trigger to make changes with the glaring problems- yes. I agree that firing him now would set our program back further than UGA fans could stand.

Coachdawg 2000

September 27th, 2010
9:56 am

I have been a supporter of Mark Richt and Bobo. I will tell you that am now concerned about the psyche of this team. I have never been 1-3 to start a season as a coach, but as a player my junior year we got out of the gate 1-4 and i can tell you you start to wonder if you’ll ever win another game. You also start to play tenative and you start think too much. I will support the players and coaches until the end of the season and then maybe we all take a deep breath and look at where we are versus where we should be. When I watch our guys there seems to be an arrogance that I think believes that we can just roll our helmets out there and the other team should just concede the game. We have seemed to have lost our mojo since the “Blackout Beatdown” against Bammer. Since then we’ve just kind of stumbled around. I can barely remember us being this shameful in our effort and intensity. We are ABSOLUTELY SOFT! We’ve been out physicaled on the line by everybody we’ve played including Louisiana Laff-a-lot(we just out-athleted them). We need to do something that inspires some anger/passion/intensity. In football you are either the hammer or the nail. And I am tired of being the Nail.

dan

September 27th, 2010
9:56 am

Why do people keep saying ” We have the talent but…”?

I agree with everyone when they say that our coaches are idiots( I have also said that Mark Richt is the problem for the last 2 years, so the current predicament doesn’t suprise me). But except for a few key positions, this team isn’t that talented! So this notion that the Dawgs should win on talent alone is a dumb one. Other teams have talent too you know!

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
9:58 am

Fire is a good thing when used appropriately.

Mobile Dawg

September 27th, 2010
10:04 am

Welcome to sobriety Coachdawg 2000. See what happens when you put down the kool aid. I like CMR but have been looking into the crystal ball for several years. 2007 is when he should have started looking at things, noticed there may be a problem? Asking why, with all this talent we aren’t ready to play at times. Take a long look in the mirror. As a parent, what happens when the child rules the roost? Life is a series of patterns, good or bad. When we set a bad example, or fail to correct problems seldom if ever do they get better.

Our positon this year isn’t just an occurances of bad circumstances. It’s happening due to poor “long term” leadership.

Coachdawg 2000

September 27th, 2010
10:05 am

By the way, I do not advocate the firing of anybody. i do think that they need to examine carefullly how they do business.There is an absolute lack of confidence in the players.

Lofton

September 27th, 2010
10:07 am

Richt goes if the money goes. I am for one will not renew my season tickets next year. I wonder how many will not renew next year?

dawgfacedboy

September 27th, 2010
10:10 am

We continually sign in the top 10 in recruiting classes. Do not tell me that our recruiting is down and that we don’t have the players. That is a bold faced lie!!! The athletes are there. You think if Mack Brown, SToops, Meyer, Saban, Spurrier, Tressel, Chris Peterson were in Athens we would even be having this discussion?!?!?! This program has failed expectations and underacheived every year since ‘05 and now we are hitting rock bottom.

Coachdawg 2000

September 27th, 2010
10:11 am

Mobile Dawg-
I’m still drinking the “kool aid” on sticking behind the team and the coaches and believing the best. I don’t think that we need to blow up the program just yet. So let’s all agree that these are times that put to test metal of the men that we all support on Saturdays. So, Go Dawgs! GATA! Let’s take it out on Colorado! Let’s finish srtong show, character and then carefully evaluate every member of the football staff from the Strength and Conditioning staff to every position coach up to coordinators and ultimately the Mark Richt.

Tail between our legs

September 27th, 2010
10:16 am

I thought Martinez was the problem? Lets just fire everyone, from the teachers down to the A.D. and all the coaches. That should solve everything. Maybe our players are the ones that suck. Just because they were good in high school, doesn’t mean they will be great in college.

1dawg

September 27th, 2010
10:16 am

Richt gone. top 4 candidates:
1. van gorder
2. jon gruden
3. kirby smart
4. chris peterson

Coachdawg 2000

September 27th, 2010
10:19 am

1Dawg-
numbers 1,2,and 4 won’t come here and Kirby Smart is a joke. He doesn’t coach anybody. Saban does all of the coaching. Kirby just signals in the plays.

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
10:26 am

I’ll take your season tickets in a heartbeat Lofton!!

droopydawg

September 27th, 2010
10:28 am

The program is really not in that bad of a state. The main problem is that our offensive line is so soft it is almost unbelievable. There was one play in particular during the first half when the RG and RT (not sure who they were) got up into their A pass blocks just as three MSU defenders overloaded that side. Decent OL would have blocked two and left one player free and let the RB block him if there was one, or make the QB scramble. What actually happened is both players looked left, looked right, saw they couldn’t block all three, and ended up letting all three go through untouched. It should be noted this WAS NOT a screen pass. It was one of the most pitiful performances i have ever seen by an OL.

If our OL was what it was supposed to be, and if Ealey had grabbed the ball instead of his helmet in the endzone, we could easily be 3-1 rather than 1-3. Let us not forget that we always knew we did not have the right personnel for the 3-4 yet and that this was a rebuilding year. A lot of fans went crazy thinking we would win the SEC this year, but that was never going to happen. Bobo and Searels probably need to go based on the OL problems and the horrifically bad offensive playcalling, but lets not go nuts here. If we end up as a .500 team next year, maybe it is time for Richt to go, but even though we are 1-3, it is not the end of the world.

NWGA Dawg

September 27th, 2010
10:29 am

Can we please just go 5 wide, and let Murray start making some plays?
Bobo –> adjust your scheme to your personel. We are not running the ball well…throw it!! Our D cannot tackle very well, so we need to start putting up some points!!!

Binford

September 27th, 2010
10:31 am

As the Outlaw Josey Wales said, “Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.”

If the coaches and players can get plumb, mad-dog mean, then they can make this a season to remember. But nothing short going rabid-dog crazy will do.

SOUTHGADAWG88

September 27th, 2010
10:32 am

Dawgfacedboy prove that statement.06 9-4 With a true freshman QB.2007 11-2 #2 in the nation.
2008 10-3 after losing 18 players to injury or suspension off of the 2 deep.2009 8-5 with the worst starting QB in the Richt era.Where did we underperform?For all the talk about top 10 recruiting classes..we have trailed Bama,LSU,FLA and are about equal with TENN over the last 4 years in recruiting.

JOKE

September 27th, 2010
10:35 am

Cant bring yourself to turn on Mark yet?? Dude wake up! He hasnt done crap since beat fla in 2007…THREE YEARS ago. We are int he same realm as Kentucky!

ivebeenworkingontheRR

September 27th, 2010
10:35 am

time to punt!

Run it up the middle again

September 27th, 2010
10:35 am

I reallly think we should run it up the middle again inside the 20….

B-Man

September 27th, 2010
10:37 am

I’m not done with Richt yet, Unless of course someone can find out if Jon Gruden is interested….