The NFL season is now over and it's time for Black Monday around the league and with new openings in Washington and Minnesota with the Redskins and the Vikings and there could be more in the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders and one name that always comes up and will now is Jon Gruden and he could be a replacement for Mike Shanahan or Leslie Frazier heading into 2014.
According to ESPN.com, Shanahan has been fired in an expected move, while Frazier was also let go and there could be more openings heading into the week before the playoffs, as the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders could be making moves, as could the NY Giants, but they likely will keep Tom Coughlin after the team won over the Skins on Sunday. The Redskins fired Shanahan after the Robert Griffin situation and after he went 3-13 and lost the final eight games of the season, while Frazier had a tough year after making the playoffs last season.
Gruden has been mentioned as a head coaching candidate for nearly every open job these days and while he has remained consistent about staying with ESPN, he could be an option for any of these teams down the line. The Dallas Cowboys haven't made a move yet, but after Jason Garrett finished with another .500 record and lost in the final game of the season to miss out on the division title, Jerry Jones could be looking to make a big splash. Gruden was successful in his stints with the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he went to the Super Bowl and won with the Bucs after leaving the Raiders in 2002.
Shanahan came in with a Super Bowl pedigree, but disagreements with Dan Snyder and an icy relationship with RG3 led to his firing, despite the fact that he had a $7 million contract. Snyder now will have to find yet another head coach and it comes after the team made the playoffs last season after winning seven games in a row and winning the NFC East and now he comes after Steve Spurrier and Jim Zorn and the same result came from all three. Shanahan went just 24-40 during his time with the Redskins he went just 24-40 and without the seven game streak from last season that is just 16 games over a four year span and now he will be looking for another job.
It remains to be seen whether Gruden will be a real factor in any of these jobs, but if Dennis Allen gets fired, the Oakland job could be one that he will go back to. Mark Davis would love to get the fans excited and having Gruden come back would do just that and with the team likely to get another quarterback, he could help start that up as well.