NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jon Gruden is getting back into professional football.
The former NFL coach is joining the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football One League as a part-owner and in what the club called “consulting and advisory roles in all aspects of the team’s football and business operations.”
Gruden, 61, hasn’t been involved in a U.S. professional team in an official capacity since resigning as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders midway through the 2021 season over emails he sent prior to being hired that included racist, anti-gay and misogynistic comments. Gruden did some consulting with the New Orleans Saints in 2023 but did not officially join the staff.
The Super Bowl-winning coach later filed a lawsuit against the NFL, claiming contract interference and conspiracy. A three-justice panel of the Nevada Supreme Court sided 2-1 with the NFL last year, ruling the league could force the civil case out of state court and into private arbitration that might be overseen by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Gruden appealed the decision, and the lawsuit will be reviewed by the full seven-person court.
The Gruden family has deep ties to the Arena Football League. Jon’s younger brother, Jay, won four league titles as a player and two more as a coach in the 1990s and early 2000s before eventually moving on to a coaching career in the NFL.
The Nashville Kats, who announced Gruden’s partnership Monday, have an ownership group that includes former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who also serves as the Kats’ president and as the league commissioner.
“I have been a fan of indoor football for a long time and jumped at the opportunity to be involved with Jeff and the Nashville Kats as part of the ownership group,” Gruden said. “I have so much respect for what Jeff has done over his career and continues to do with the Nashville Kats and as commissioner of AF1. I’m excited to be part of the team.”
