Pat Haden Admits He Spoke To Jon Gruden

USC athletic director Pat Haden admitted this morning on the Dan Patrick Show that he spoke to ESPN analyst Jon Gruden.

““I talked with Jon a while back,” Haden said. “He wants to coach in the pros. If he coaches, he wants to coach in the pros.”

12 thoughts on “Pat Haden Admits He Spoke To Jon Gruden

  1. Confirmation that Jon Gruden was contacted. Another report said that Nick Saban was contacted as well.

    Haden conducted what seems to have been an exhaustive search, Trojan Fans. Some very sharp minds were behind this decision. Football minds. Obviously, they believe they picked the very best candidate out there.

    Time will tell if this was the right move. Sark looks like a solid choice to me. “History will be the judge”, as the saying goes.

    Have faith and Fight On!

    • I completely agree with you, G Man…..cynics will always be cynics…..keep the faith, loyal Trojans fans…..better get on board NOW!….any fair weather fans will NOT be welcome on the band wagon once Sark gets things get rolling in the right direction…..

      Fight on!

      • I’ll support the decision, but my skepticism comes from our recent failure with the “dynamic play caller”-type coach in Kiffin and Hackett.

        I personally feel that especially in college ball, the Xs and Os guy should be UNDER the delegating-style coach like Carroll, Saban, Mora, etc. I think that kind of coach can succeed in the NFL where the players are more mature and can be self motivated.

        Who was the last offensive-minded coach to win a national title? (not rhetorical — I’m actually curious to know).. Even Chip Kelly couldn’t get over the hump.

        • No argument here…..I suspect that Kiffin was too much of a control freak, and hopefully Sark will delegate and let the assistant coaches do their respective jobs…and neither Kiffin nor Hackett were very good with the media…I am guessing Burpin Meyer was the last offensive minded coach to win a NC?….

        • Good question. It seems like today’s GREAT coaches all have a defensive background (Belichick, Saban, Caroll). I heard a theory that offensive minded HCs tend to emphasize offense over team (they tend to think they can outscore anyone) whereas HCs with defensive backgrounds understand better the need for a good offense & defense.

          • By emphasize you mean the offensive minded coaches tend to place the talent on offense over defense?

          • That’s one way (see DAT at Oregon).

            The main way though, is that the team’s identity seems to be all about the offense (see Oregon, Baylor, & Ok St.). The best that is ever said about those team’s defenses is that they’re “underrated” or “improved”. They don’t care about clock management & resting their defense because it’s all about how fast they can score & how many points they put on the board. Those teams are fun to watch but they always seem to come up short.

            That was probably the downfall of the 2005 SC team. Their identity was their offense (who can blame them with that Heisman backfield) and it finally caught up to them when they were outscored by Texas.

          • Not really. However, it does tend to result in that. Kiffin started to have the tendency to overemphasize on “bling” (skilled players) over the guys in the trenches.

            Someone on the PAC-12 radio channel said that a defensive stud is more likely to skip an offensive minded program.

    • LOL. Alabama contacted Saban too. And he said no 10 times. Then he said yes. Pat put in a few calls to a few guys, but never wanted anyone but Sark. Spin it how you want, but that’s the truth!

  2. ahhhhh, yes….. but would Haden admit that he spoke with YOU, Scottie?…… I doubt it…..

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