Background and career
Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He previously served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins from 2014 to 2019 and as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars. During his time in the Arena Football League (AFL), Gruden won four ArenaBowls as a player and two more as a head coach. He is the younger brother of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden and was an assistant coach of the 2002 Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII.
Of Slovene descent, Gruden was born on March 4, 1967, in Tiffin, Ohio, and was raised a Roman Catholic. He attended George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida, and played quarterback for the Chamberlain Chiefs high school football team under head coach Billy Turner. Gruden earned All-Western Conference First Team recognition.
Gruden attended the University of Louisville, where he was a four-year letterman at Louisville Cardinals football team (1985–1988). Gruden finished his collegiate career with 7,024 passing yards (as of 2013, fourth all-time for the school), completing 572 of 1,049 passes for 44 touchdowns. All four stats still rank in the top five in Cardinals history. He also ranks in Louisville's top 10 for yards per completion, passing attempts in a season, and completions in a season. Gruden ranks eighth in career completion percentage, seventh in career passing efficiency, and ninth in average yards per game for the Cardinals. He threw for over 300 yards in a game six times at Louisville. Gruden led the team to an 8–3 record as a senior, their first winning season in 10 years. After his playing career ended, Gruden remained active with the football program at Louisville, gaining his first coaching experience as a student assistant in 1989 and as a graduate assistant in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.
Upon the conclusion of his college playing career, Gruden was signed to the Miami Dolphins practice squad after an injury to starter Dan Marino shortly before the 1989 season opener, but was waived several days later. He then had brief stints with the Barcelona Dragons and the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF in 1990, while continuing to gain coaching experience at his alma mater of Louisville as a graduate assistant.
In 1991, Gruden turned his attention to indoor football, signing with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. Gruden won four ArenaBowl titles as the starting quarterback of the Storm, only briefly leaving the team in early 1995 for a training camp stint with the Scottish Claymores of the WLAF. Upon realization that he would be the Claymores third-string quarterback, he returned to Florida and immediately resumed his role as the starting quarterback for the Storm. Gruden was named the league's MVP in 1992, and is contemporarily considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in arena football history. After stepping off the field to coach, Gruden returned to the field in 2002, playing quarterback for the Orlando Predators for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before retiring again from playing football.
1992: League MVP & First Team All-Arena 1993: ArenaBowl VII MVP 1993: All-Star Game MVP 1995: First Team All-Arena 1996: AFL's 10th Anniversary Team 1999: AFL Hall of Fame & All-ArenaBowl Team 2001: Second Team 15th Team Anniversary 2006: Ranked fourth on the AFL's list of greatest players
