On Monday August 11, 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court sided with former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden in his lawsuit against the NFL.
Gruden is currently suing the NFL and league commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly leaking to the media racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails that Gruden sent to former Washington Commanders general manager Bruce Allen between 2011 and 2018.
The court did not rule on whether or not the NFL leaked Gruden’s emails. However, their ruling does change the playing field for Gruden’s case.
The NFL had filed a motion to send Gruden’s complaint to the league’s own arbitration process. The court ruled that Gruden, who was no longer an NFL employee at the time the lawsuit was filed gievn that he resigned from coaching the Raiders, was not subject to the NFL Constitution’s arbitration clause.
Gruden and his team are pushing for his case to move forward in public. The NFL has appealed this Nevada Supreme Court decision and will request a rehearing before the Nevada Supreme Court.
Could Gruden Return to Coaching?
Jon Gruden has been outspoken in recent weeks about his desire to return to coaching. But he’s not just seeking an NFL opportunity. It seems he’d like to coach in any capacity he can.
Gruden recently visited Georgia Bulldogs training camp and spoke about his desire to coach in the college football SEC conference.
“I’d die to coach in the SEC,” Gruden said.
Several obstacles obviously exist for Gruden, the main one being the email scandal. The backlash facing any program or team that hired Gruden in the wake of those emails surfacing would be heavy.
Then, teams have to weigh if navigating the controversy would even be worth it. Gruden is a former Super Bowl winning head coach, but Gruden only had a 22-31 record in his return to coaching the Raiders from 2018 until mid-2021.
Winning the case against the NFL would likely go a long way to repairing Gruden’s reputation and increasing his chance at another chance to be the head coach of a major football team.
In the event that happens, it’s likely in Gruden’s best interest to take a head coaching position at a college outside of the Power 4 conferences. If he succeeds there, with lower stakes, bigger teams will likely come calling.
After all, success often seems to magically precede forgiveness.
Gruden’s Case For Second Chance Gets Big Endorsement
In the wake of the Gruden case news, popular ESPN host Stephen A. Smith went on First Take on Tuesday August 12, 2025 and argued that Gruden deserves a second chance in the NFL.
“I’m one of those guys, if you ain’t in jail, and you’re in a position to contribute to society, everybody requires a second chance,” Smith said.
Smith went on to say he believes that the sentiments Gruden expressed in his emails were indeed “egregious”, but that Gruden should be allowed an opportunity to publicly apologize and make amends for his actions.
Gruden currently works for ESPN rival media company Barstool Sports. Smith also praised Gruden’s work at ESPN before he left to coach the Raiders, saying he did an outstanding job covering football.
What do you think, Raiders fans? Will Jon Gruden win his case against the NFL? Does he deserve a chance to return to coaching football?
