Report: Jon Gruden Effectively Raiders Head Coach, GM, And CEO

Since signing a $100 million contract in January, everyone knows Jon Gruden has been wearing a lot of hats inside the Raiders building.

But based on a report on Wednesday, the more accurate analogy of Gruden’s job description may be that he is essentially wearing all the hats.

Via Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman:

“Since joining the Raiders in January, Gruden has quietly consolidated power to the point where he’s effectively the head coach, general manager, CEO and just about everything else. No other coach in the NFL has this kind of power outside of Belichick.”

“What’s surprised some in the Raiders organization is the scope and speed of the takeover. While Gruden and McKenzie have publicly stated they are in agreement on personnel moves, the truth is that Gruden has made practically all of them since his return.”

For as much as the team has wanted to publicly promote a collaborative leadership approach, more and more reports seem to indicate one man is ruling the roost.

Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it isn’t.

The past four months seemed like a trial run for the Raiders personnel department and if one thing stands out that needs to be corrected, it’s the information leaks that have become much more commonplace.

In addition, stories hitting the mainstream aren’t all flattering of Gruden and that could indicate some in the building (excluding the players, who seem to share Gruden’s vision) aren’t completely buying in to the new way of doing things in Oakland.

For what it’s worth, the Gruden/McKenzie relationship still seems to be a good one and the Raiders are reportedly “ecstatic” about their offseason and the draft.

It will be interesting to see how the process plays out, but smart money is probably on more front office and personnel changes coming to the Raiders in the months ahead.

twitter: @raidersbeat