Gruden: Staggering, astounding, incredible triumph

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© St. Petersburg Times
published February 19, 2002

At times such as this, perhaps it is best to be reserved.

We are high-minded people, looking on from afar. So perhaps our reaction should be clinical and detached. Finally, the Bucs have a new coach. Interesting. It's Jon Gruden. Surprising. The search is at an end. Intriguing.

On the other hand, you could say it like this:

Holy crap!

The most twisting, confounding, exasperating search any team ever took toward a head coach concluded Monday in the most staggering, astounding, incredible manner imaginable. It ended in triumph.

Jon Gruden.

Bucs coach.

Assuming the Glazers hired the right Gruden (no offense to Jay), this wasn't just a home run. This was an upper-deck job. This was the scene in The Natural in which Robert Redford hits one into the lights, and the sparks fly until they resemble fireworks. What a recovery. The Glazers didn't just save face with this one, they saved their whole bobbling little heads.

Jon Gruden?

Are you kidding me?

For five weeks, the Bucs fell on their faces and, in the end, they landed in the end zone. What's that they say? When you seem lost, retrace your steps? This time, the Glazers doubled back and found a treasure that had been unreachable. And bully for them for not losing the number.

Even when you consider all the names the team pursued, Gruden is the best choice they could have made. He is more adaptable than Dungy, younger than Parcells, more proven than Spurrier, less of a gamble than Lewis, more sincere than Mariucci. He is young, intense, adaptable. He's passionate, likable, smart.

He's Jon Gruden.

Honest.

No team ever needed a coach this good this badly. And, it should be pointed out, no team ever paid more of a price. It was one of those price tags that makes you swallow hard and pull back your fingers as if they were burned.

In the end, the Bucs traded Tony Dungy, and possibly Rich McKay, two No. 1 draft picks, two No. 2s, $8-million in cash, millions of dollars in extra salary and a lot of bruised feelings and a lot of credibility for the rights to Gruden. Who, it should be pointed out, never has reached the Super Bowl.

Is Gruden worth all that?

Check back in a few seasons.

Only the results will tell us if the Bucs made a devil of a deal or a deal with the devil when they traded with Al Davis. To be worth the price, Gruden has to make the Super Bowl. He has to coach enough to overcome the lack of draft picks and win enough so you don't notice who those picks turn out to be.

That said, there is something to be said for capturing the big prize. It took longer than anyone would have preferred. At times, it was more unseemly. Too many people's feelings were hurt, too many lies were told. There is a cost to that, too. It was a weird, endless chase in which we in the media found ourselves reporting what was true five minutes ago, but not necessarily true anymore.

In the end, however, the Bucs could not have wound up with a better coach. There were other good hires to be made; this is a great hire. Call it luck. Call it wisdom. Call it a touchdown.

Gruden will make you forget the indignity of the search. Already, you have forgotten Dungy's face and Parcells' scowl. Lewis' discouragement has vanished. Soon, you will forget all the fuss about Mariucci. Soon, everyone who turned this job down will have done the Bucs a favor. Soon, all of it will fade into conversation about how many touchdowns the Bucs might score next season. Hint: Someone needs to buy some more cannonballs.

Whom would you rather be coach of the Bucs today? Mike Shanahan? Great coach, but since John Elway retired, who would notice? Mike Martz? Did you see the Super Bowl? Bill Belichick? Very good. Only comes out of his office on Groundhog Day.

Ask across the league, and Gruden is on almost everyone's list of top five coaches. I'll take him over Holmgren, over Billick, over Reid, over Wannstedt. And, yes, I'll take him over Mariucci.

Want to know the difference between Gruden and Mariucci? The 49ers have Mariucci; they covet Gruden. Mariucci was interested in the Bucs because of money and power; Gruden is interested because it fits. Rich Gannon is going to be heartbroken Gruden is leaving; Terrell Owens is going to be heartbroken Mariucci is staying.

Finally, there is this. To get Mariucci, you would have given him both the coach and GM jobs. That's dangerous, at best. History is full of very good coaches who have failed horribly when they have tried to do both jobs. Gruden is happy just to coach. Heck, the guy gets up in the middle of the night as it is.

This would have been a terrific hire at any time. Given the situation the team was in late Sunday night, it's incredible. Consider the spot the team was in late Sunday night, when Mariucci had decided to become the latest coach in America to turn it down.

Yes, Mooch said, it's nice you offered to make me the richest coach in history, and it's cool you offered me so much power, too much power even, and it's swell that you loved me when my bosses with the 49ers are shoving me toward the cab they called 10 minutes earlier, but no.

With that news, it seemed, all roads led to Dennis Erickson's house. Instead, the Bucs turned Mariucci's reluctance into Gruden's acceptance. It was a remarkable recovery.

Today, it may seem like a lot to pay. Someday, it may seem like a bargain.

Yeah, the seas got rough over the past few. The captain got lost at sea. There was some nausea. But in the end, the ship docked safely.

And down the ramp came this familiar-looking blond guy.

Jon Gruden.

Amazing.

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