Jon Gruden, who was fired in January as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was offered the job of offensive coordinator at Oregon, shortly after Chip Kelly was promoted to Duck coach in March, according to a report in the Nashua Telegraph.
Gruden told the Orlando Sentinel shortly after his firing that he wanted to learn the spread offense and use it in a return to the NFL.
"I'm going to pick out two or three cool colleges that I think have great offenses," he said. "Great places. I want to go to Oregon. I want my son to go to Oregon football camp and I want to learn what the Oregon Ducks are doing on offense. ... I want to go in there and try to be a guest coach."
Kelly, who was Oregon's offensive coordinator before his promotion, made a trip to Tampa in February "to visit [Gruden] and talk football."
After Mike Bellotti stepped down on March 13 and Kelly was promoted, the new head coach contacted Gruden to see if he would be interested in becoming the Ducks' offensive coordinator.
"He told me he wanted to learn the system, but that he just wanted to take a year off from coaching and spend time with his family," Kelly said. "I was taking a shot. He's a great coach and teacher. He's still getting a paycheck from Tampa, so he can afford to take some time off."
Stuck with an opening on his staff and spring practice about to begin, Kelly asked Bellotti if he could fill in on a temporary basis as quarterbacks coach. Bellotti, who will become athletic director this summer, agreed.
Gruden was not available for comment.
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