It has been nearly four years since former NFL head coach turned Barstool media personality Jon Gruden has been down on the sidelines coaching at the NFL level. But on Thursday, that changed after being invited in by Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh to come and scout his team during their OTAs this week.
Gruden hasn’t been too far away from the game since resigning as head coach of the Raiders in 2021 following a scandal where emails were leaked showing him making homophobic and misogynistic remarks.
Last month, Gruden signed on as a part-owner of the Nashville Kats in the Arena Football One (AF1) league. Additionally, the return of Gruden’s QB Class series at Barstool has been met with a good amount of support.
Despite what was a positive first year as a Barstool content creator, many, including Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, aren’t convinced that Gruden won’t be back coaching at the NFL level in the near future.
While it remains to be seen what is in store for Jon Gruden in terms of coaching at the NFL level, he did get to scratch the proverbial itch that any former coach has when it comes to standing on the sidelines. That came with him sitting in on Ravens OTAs on Thursday and Friday.
John Harbaugh discussed what it was like having Gruden in the building while addressing the media on Friday, calling him a “great football coach” with a “great football mind”.
“Good to see everybody out here,” said Harbaugh. “Appreciate you being out here. Beautiful day, great setting, just awesome. Had Coach Gruden here for two days working with us. Just had so much respect for him over the years. He loves football, he’s a great football coach, great football mind. He studied our team and gave us some insight. Players, coaches, schemes, all of it. We just really appreciate having him here, so that was a real blessing.”
John Harbaugh said having John Gruden at OTAs was really insightful.
Gruden game planned against the Ravens defense and also gave notes to each individual offensive player.
“Great football mind… Great teacher, too.”@FOXBaltimore #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/Nbf3kpAt3v
— AJ Gersh (@AJGershTV) June 6, 2025
As to how Harbaugh and Gruden made his guest visit happen, Harbaugh explained how he and his coaching staff “talk from time to time” with Gruden, particularly during the offseason when he and his offensive staff spend time in Tampa, where Gruden lives.
“We talk from time to time,” added Harbaugh. “I happened to see him in Tampa a couple of times. He’s down there in Lutz, got his office and his place there. We went down there last offseason as an offensive staff, Monk and I, and George Godsey, and spent some time with him down there.
“He’s been around with us. Known him since he was in Philly, when I was coming in and he was going out to be the head coach of the Raiders. Got to know him a little bit. Just the utmost respect.”
While Harbaugh certainly enjoyed having Gruden’s presence around, he didn’t exactly sound as if he would be hiring Gruden anytime soon, explaining how Gruden was not briefed on the playbook or given a script of the team’s offensive game plan.
“Nah, we didn’t give him the playbook,” said Harbaugh. “We didn’t give him a script either. You only go so far. You gotta draw the line somewhere. Good question.”
Perhaps this is a sign of things to come for Jon Gruden in the future. But either way, he clearly has the admiration of one of the most successful coaches in the NFL at the moment in John Harbaugh. That’s a pretty good sign for his prospects should he want to get back into coaching.