Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis hired Jon Gruden as head coach in 2018, locking him with a massive 10-year contract with the confidence that bringing Gruden back would bring stability and success to the organization. 

Instead, Gruden would be forced to resign years later over an email scandal – a sequence of events that Davis believes largely set the organization back. 

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Speaking to the media on Monday, Davis praised the additions of new head coach Pete Carroll and new general manager John Spytek. However, he also praised the team’s new “infrastructure,” which includes Tom Brady as a minority owner. 

“Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody that was on the football side that I had been lacking having here at the organization,” Davis said. 

“Back in 2018 with Jon Gruden, he was someone that I brought in and really expected to be that person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization. He had a 10-year contract and all that – and his head was chopped off.”  

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, left, speaks with owner Mark Davis before the game against the Denver Broncos at Oakland Coliseum on Dec. 24, 2018. (Kelley L Cox-USA Today Sports)

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Gruden, who is currently suing the NFL, resigned after leaked emails sent by the former head coach included racist, misogynistic and homophobic remarks directed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, among others.

Davis said that Gruden’s resignation in 2021 triggered a series of turnovers in the organization.

“We were put in a really bad position as an organization. And we tried to get it right with Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler – that didn’t work out. Antonio Pierce was given the interim job and I believe the job that he did as an interim coach warranted him earning the job as head coach of the Raiders… We just felt that it was time for a change.” 

Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll speaks at a press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center on Jan. 27, 2025. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

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Davis said Monday that he believes Brady fills the void left behind by Gruden and that the new personnel brought in will have the lasting effect he had hoped for in 2018.

“We want to build something here. That’s been the process and mindset all along. Like I said, that got offset or kind of blown up when Jon Gruden was sent away. So, we’ve been trying to get it right since then. We’ll see, but I’ve got patience to get it right.” 

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Carroll takes over as the team’s 14th head coach since Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay in 2002. He is the fifth coach, including those in an interim role, since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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