Last week, the New Orleans Saints brought in a former NFL head coach to help their new quarterback, Derek Carr, transition to a new team after he had spent the entirety of his career to date with the Raiders organization. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be all that notable. But the former head coach was Jon Gruden, who resigned from his job with the Raiders in 2021 after leaked emails revealed that he used racist, sexist, and homophobic language repeatedly, including vile slurs used to describe NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.
This week, Saints coach Dennis Allen explained why the team brought Gruden in, and why he was unconcerned about potential backlash regarding the decision to consult with a coach who is just 20 or so months removed from ignominiously exiting the league.
"No, look, you ask everybody that was involved and they thought it was really beneficial for our football team," Allen said, according to ESPN. "And look, we're going to look at any avenue that we can to try to improve. So that was one area we thought, just bringing him in and having the opportunity to sit down and visit with him, would help us."
Allen particularly alluded to Gruden's experience working with Carr in Las Vegas, and also made a point to note that Gruden was not the only coach to visit the team.
"Look, I mean, No. 1, we've had several coaches come and visit," Allen said. "Obviously, Jon's a guy that has a lot of experience with Derek and Derek has had his most success under Jon Gruden. And so we felt like bringing him in, having a chance to sit down and visit with him as an offensive staff, with the quarterbacks and just getting some new thoughts and ideas of things we might be able to implement."
There's no doubt that Gruden has a strong offensive mind, and he certainly helped Carr find success during their time together. There is a reason, though, that he is out of the league entirely at the moment and there has been no momentum toward a potential return. The Saints just don't appear to care.
