Gruden the Great?

Bucs coach might be bound for NFL's pantheon

SAN DIEGO -- Watching Jon Gruden do his final pre-Super Bowl evade-everything-the-media-asks press conference of the week this morning, I couldn't help thinking: Are we seeing the next Parcells or Gibbs or Walsh?

Might be. I am going to gush a little bit right now. Jon Gruden is 39. He has won 54 games in the NFL already, in just five seasons of coaching.

He is eight months shy of 40, and he has averaged 10.8 wins a year. Exactly 10.0 in the regular season (50-30), with four wins added (4-2) in the postseason. No coach has won this many games before turning 40. There aren't a whole lot of coaches who have won this many games, period.

I find Gruden refreshing and fun and great for the game. He is as evasive as any coach, but you can get something out of him if you ask questions the right way. Like last week, when I'd heard he'd made one of the greatest night-before-the-game speeches in NFL history on the eve of the Bucs' game against Philadelphia for the NFC title. I cornered him, and he told me the whole story, which I reported in Sports Illustrated this week. This morning, as he walked out of the Marriott ballroom to go into 48 hours of seclusion before the game, I said: "You talked about Randy Johnson and Tiger Woods the night before the game last week. What will you talk about tomorrow night?" He hemmed and hawed for a second, as if I knew he couldn't tell me, and I just asked, "Will you tell me after the game?" And he said, "Yeah." He's an interesting, compelling guy.

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I wonder about longevity with Gruden. He lasted four years in Oakland, and the players seem much happier with a behind-the-scenes coach such as Bill Callahan than they did with Gruden. Maybe he'll be a Jimmy Johnson, a guy who can stay five years, but then has to move on. Already I hear he's miserable lots of the time, but keeps that behind closed doors. I wonder if he'll burn out by 50. I'm sure he'd say no now, but I wonder.

What does all this mean Sunday? Nothing. Except that I think he's going to coach one hell of a game.

Quote of the day

"My players gave me a hard time when I walked into the dining room this morning with this tie on. They didn't know who I was."
--Callahan, nattily dressed in a coat and tie at his final pre-Super Bowl press conference of the week Friday morning

The Raiders' linebacker coach is named Fred Pagac. You'd think it'd be pronounced "PAY-jack." It's not. It actually rhymes with "luggage." Like "Puggage."

Drove 129 miles each way last night to pick up daughter Mary Beth King and her friend Sara Armour at LAX for their first Super Bowl. Today, while I labored a bit, they went shopping for some nice clothes to wear to a couple of parties this weekend.

Mary Beth also asked me if she could buy a jersey to wear to the game Sunday. I said I supposed she could.

She will be Rich Gannon Sunday. Sara will be Keyshawn Johnson.

I should also point out that they are very impressed with all the guys named Johnson on Tampa Bay's roster -- Brad, Rob, and Keyshawn.

When we walked down the hall this morning at the Marriott hotel, the headquarters for the Super Bowl, another writer said: "Hey, Mary Beth! The softball player!"

She is known far and wide.

I LIKE THIS QUESTION. From Jimmy Wood of Enfield, Conn. : "Which coach seems tighter to you as the game approaches -- Jon Gruden or Bill Callahan?"

Interesting. I would say neither. Both guys have tried hard to rein in their emotions, and their players' emotions, as the game approaches. It has probably been easier for Callahan, because he has had 10 players who've played in this game before, and Gruden has only one. I would be very surprised if Callahan changes one iota on Saturday or Sunday after having seen him in action at practice, which I've witnessed as the AFC pool reporter for the Pro Football Writers of America. He's the opposite of uptight. I don't know much about Gruden, but I would also be surprised if pulls a Vermeil and tightens up Saturday or Sunday."

1. I think the demeanor of Bill Callahan reminds me of a young Chuck Noll. Now, don't go saying I'm comparing him to Noll. I'm just saying that the way he goes about his job reminds me of Noll.

2. I think, and let me clarify my first point, that this is the best way to put it: Jon Gruden never met a commercial he didn't like. Bill Callahan, I believe, would turn down any commercial that was offered. I might be wrong, but that's what I think.

3. I think Al Davis does not look infirm, nor do I think he'll retire. He has stood for three straight days at practice, covering a total of about six hours. Someone told me the other day they heard Al was in a wheelchair. Geez. How do these things get started?

4. I think the Raiders have a healthy respect for Simeon Rice. No fear. But a real respect.

5. I think one of the funniest things I've ever seen at a Super Bowl happened early Friday morning, along radio row at the press hotel, where I was to do a spot on FOX Radio. The two Miller Lite girls came in. You know, the cat-fighters. And it's like the air was sucked out of this huge ballroom. Every eye in the place turned and stared at these plunging-necklined women. And then every lascivious talk-show host in the land, 10 or 12 of them, right in a row, got to leer at these girls and get tongue-tied trying to interview them. Only at the Super Bowl.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. He will file daily for CNNSI.com throughout Super Bowl week. Click here to send him a comment.

 

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