Jon Gruden Reportedly Did Some Consulting Work For Saints

Ex-NFL head coach Jon Gruden has been out of football for a couple of years now. But it appears as though he has made some form of a return to the league.

Even if it was done somewhat under the radar.

According to NOLA.com, the Saints are in the midst of molding their offense around quarterback Derek Carr, who they acquired over the offseason. This isn't that unusual. In fact, the team has done similar things when bringing in a new quarterback. Even as far back as 2006 when Drew Brees became a Saint.

Carr is used to a West Coast offense like the one used by current Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels and Gruden. With McDaniels still in Vegas, who better to bring to the table for some insight than Gruden?

Gruden reportedly visited the team this week which allowed the coaching staff to pick his brain and gain some insight from him.

It makes a ton of sense given that Carr had some of his best seasons under Gruden, but it even goes beyond that. The Saints system follows the groundwork set in place by current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Gruden and Payton coached together in 1997. Both were members of the Philadelphia Eagles staff. Gruden as the offensive coordinator and Payton as the quarterbacks coach.

“He’s a great fit for us,” Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said about his new quarterback.

“We’ll cater to things that he likes as long as it fits with our personnel. The majority of what we’ve done (in New Orleans) he’s had some of that over his career. There’s a lot of similarities.”

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