ballpeen Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/28/report-gruden-to-get-browns-ownership-stake-in-offer-to-coach-vols/ Oh boy. This may be the most outlandish Jon Gruden coaching rumor yet. WREG-TV in Memphis, Tenn. reported Tuesday night that the ESPN NFL analyst has an offer on the table to become the next head coach of the University of Tennessee with an interesting twist. According to the report, Gruden would be getting an ownership stake in the Cleveland Browns as part of the deal and a decision could be made as early as Wednesday. New Browns owner Jimmy Haslam attended Tennessee and is a booster of the program. His father, Jim, played on the offensive line for the Volunteers in the early 1950′s, including the 1951 National Championship team, and is also a major Tennessee booster. The report does bring up a potential road block to this ever coming to fruition. Gruden may still be owed money from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from his time as head coach that ended with his firing in 2008. Apparently the league is looking into the conflict of owning a part of one team while potentially still getting paid from another franchise. Here’s another possible hiccup. According to John Infante, who worked as a NCAA compliance officer at Colorado State University and ran the Bylaw Blog for the NCAA website, NCAA rules would prohibit this transaction unless the ownership stake was first gifted to the University of Tennessee. He says there is no rule prohibiting coaches being involved with pro teams but rather the issue has to do with outside compensation. This deal seems a little too ridiculous to actually come together in the end. But with SEC football, there seems to be no limit to the distance schools will go to try and put the best possible team on the field. So maybe it’s not completely out of the question after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosar_For_President Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Gruden laughed this morning about it on Mike and Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 It is absurd to think that Haslam would offer a share of the Browns for a guy to go coach UT. As I heard someone describe it this morning, that would be like pimping the Browns out just to get a good coach for his favorite school. It could be considered an insult to Browns fan if it were true. It would show what Haslam's true priorities are, i.e, not the Browns. (That is why I believe the denials). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Actually here is what I think happened perhaps if there really was any true discussion about bringing Gruden to Tennessee (and where there is smoke there is fire...I think there were/are discussions about Gruden going to UT): Jimmy Haslam apparently is STILL a minority owner in the Steelers. He has yet to fully, finally divest himself of that interest. Apparently he must do so by around the first of the year. So it was his minority interest in the Steelers that JH had to get rid of that he offered to Gruden, not a part of the Browns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miktoxic Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 our new owner will give someone part ownership of most our hated division rivals as a gift to get him to go to tennessee?? not a good way to start and gain trust in brown's fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 28, 2012 Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 our new owner will give someone part ownership of most our hated division rivals as a gift to get him to go to tennessee?? not a good way to start and gain trust in brown's fans. Uhm, that was just a joke I made about giving Gruden his interest in the Steelers. The news report said that actually Gruden was supposed to get 10% of the Browns. That is why I think the report has no credibility. I do think that Gruden has discussed the UT job....but I doubt that NFL ownership is one of the incentives involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted November 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Even if this is true, I wouldn't say Haslam offering up a share in the Browns shows where his true loyalty rests as in it doesn't rest with with the Browns.. First....he is a Vol. Has been for his whole life. That isn't going to change now that he owns the Browns. I am sure Jerry Jones still roots for Arkansas and sends generous amounts of money their way. That doesn't mean Jones isn't a Cowboy, and his being a Cowboy doesn't mean he still isn't a Razorback. That's the beauty of it. Haslam can be a Vol on Saturdays and go see their games, jump his jet and be a Browns owner on Sunday. Second.....it's his shares to give or sell away as he sees fit, and at most, it would be a small share. Man, wouldn't that be cool? Own a NFL team and be in a position where your University has you on the speed dial when they need to buy out a coach or build a new performance center. I don't normally envy many as I am pretty happy with my place and don't think that way, but yeah, that would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickers Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Even if this is true, I wouldn't say Haslam offering up a share in the Browns shows where his true loyalty rests as in it doesn't rest with with the Browns.. First....he is a Vol. Has been for his whole life. That isn't going to change now that he owns the Browns. I am sure Jerry Jones still roots for Arkansas and sends generous amounts of money their way. That doesn't mean Jones isn't a Cowboy, and his being a Cowboy doesn't mean he still isn't a Razorback. That's the beauty of it. Haslam can be a Vol on Saturdays and go see their games, jump his jet and be a Browns owner on Sunday. Second.....it's his shares to give or sell away as he sees fit, and at most, it would be a small share. Man, wouldn't that be cool? Own a NFL team and be in a position where your University has you on the speed dial when they need to buy out a coach or build a new performance center. I don't normally envy many as I am pretty happy with my place and don't think that way, but yeah, that would be cool. Totally agreed,Peen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Even if this is true, I wouldn't say Haslam offering up a share in the Browns shows where his true loyalty rests as in it doesn't rest with with the Browns.. First....he is a Vol. Has been for his whole life. That isn't going to change now that he owns the Browns. I am sure Jerry Jones still roots for Arkansas and sends generous amounts of money their way. That doesn't mean Jones isn't a Cowboy, and his being a Cowboy doesn't mean he still isn't a Razorback. That's the beauty of it. Haslam can be a Vol on Saturdays and go see their games, jump his jet and be a Browns owner on Sunday. Second.....it's his shares to give or sell away as he sees fit, and at most, it would be a small share. Man, wouldn't that be cool? Own a NFL team and be in a position where your University has you on the speed dial when they need to buy out a coach or build a new performance center. I don't normally envy many as I am pretty happy with my place and don't think that way, but yeah, that would be cool. I don't really think it is cool. Many if not most NFL owners feel that owning an NFL franchise is a public trust for the community, citizens, and fans of a particular city/region. "Pimping" out....as it was described a share of the ownership of an NFL team to get a coach to go to work at a school far from the NFL community would be a very, very poor business move....and probably disallowable under NFL ownership rules. That is why I put little credence into the validity of the report. Haslam by no means seem to be a guy that makes poor business decisions. No Art Modell he. And I doubt that he would pay a billion dollars for an asset just to give 10% of it away. He is not that dumb. The writer that made up that portion of the story was probably just engaging in speculation or wishful thinking. It would not surprise me to see Gruden go to UT, but not with a share of the Browns in his pocket. No way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htownbrown Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 No way anyone would essentially pay $100,000,000+ for someone else to coach their college team. You spend $100,000,000+ of your own money and don't earn actual monetary profit, your not a businessman. Preposterous. I don't even know if haslam would give gruden a gas station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miktoxic Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 i don't care what he decides to do with ownership shares as long as the team is run right. i just hope the browns don't become the depository of bad tennessee football players....just cuz he's a 'vol'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorta Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 i don't care what he decides to do with ownership shares as long as the team is run right. i just hope the browns don't become the depository of bad tennessee football players....just cuz he's a 'vol'. LOL, 2 years- Peyton Manning OC, you OK with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 It has been reported that Gruden bought a new home in Strongsville. Him and Cowher are neighbors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRREBEL Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Him and Cowher are neighbors. My neighbor has 3 rabbits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 LOL, 2 years- Peyton Manning OC, you OK with that? Yea, but Manning is no Montario Hardesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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