y home in Florida are boxes filled with recordings of dozens of games coached by Jon or Jay in the NFL and Arena Football League.There isn’t a single loss on any of those discs. That’s not because either of the brothers is unbeaten Baby Justin Tucker Jersey , of course. It’s because Dad, a former assistant in the pros and college himself, wants nothing to do with the setbacks. He refuses to sit through live broadcasts of his sons’ games. Why? There’s no way to know how they’ll end, he blames himself when something goes wrong, and the nerves are just too much.“I’ll watch the whole game afterward — if they win. I won’t watch any game that they lose,” Jim Gruden said during a telephone interview. “Some nights, when there’s nothing on TV or nothing to do, we’ll put one on and enjoy it again. I tell my wife, ‘It looks like we’re going to lose this game.’ But by golly, we pull it off. Every time.”He uses the word “we” a lot while discussing his kids’ work, and all of the Grudens will be counting on adding to the video collection when the NFL season starts in September. On most Sundays, there will be two games of particular interest: those involving Jon’s Oakland Raiders or Jay’s Washington Redskins.“It was in our blood, mine and Jon’s. Both of us knew we were going to be in football, one way or another. But to get to be head coaches in the NFL was probably an unrealistic dream,” Jay said, leaning back on a couch at his team’s practice facility. “Somehow, we got here.”Jon got there first, hired as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers at age 26, then getting his first head coaching job with the Raiders at 34 in 1998. Jay didn’t enter the NFL until more than a decade later, as an assistant on Jon’s Tampa Bay staff at age 35; he became a head coach four years ago in Washington.With Jon leaving “Monday Night Football” to return to the sideline after a decade away, and Jay entering his fifth season, they will join the Harbaughs as the only sets of siblings to simultaneously hold jobs as NFL head coaches.“They grew up in the same house, and they love each other, but they’re not very much the same,” Jim Gruden said about the two sons who followed him into the coaching business (a third — and oldest — brother is a radiologist in New York; Jon joked about being “the forgotten Gruden” as the supposedly least-loved middle child).“They both had a dream to do this. I did it, and they wanted to do it. But I never knew they would take it to this level,” Jim continued.Then Best Justin Tucker Jersey , with a knowing chuckle, he added: “Personality-wise, they’re very different. One is a little more volatile. The other is more laid back.”The explosive son, naturally, is Jon, who earned the nickname Chucky (a character in the “Child’s Play” horror film series) during his first go-round as a head coach. During 11 seasons with the Raiders (1998-01) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-08), he won a Super Bowl and went 95-81 in the regular season.The more relaxed is Jay, 28-35-1 with one playoff appearance. His prior head coaching experience was a brief stint in something called the United Football League and a longer tenure in the better-known Arena League, where he led the Orlando Predators to two championships (Jim says he has the discs to prove it).Now they are NFL competitors, even though the Redskins and Raiders aren’t slated to play each other until the 2021 regular season.If the Grudens remain in their current jobs, the only chance to match wits beforehand would come in the Super Bowl. The Harbaughs managed to make that happen: John’s Baltimore Ravens beat younger brother Jim’s San Francisco 49ers 34-31 for the title in 2013.“When you play each other, embrace it and enjoy it. And try to win,” said John Harbaugh, who is still with the Ravens, while his brother now coaches at the University of Michigan.As for their so-called Brother Bowl?“The best part was winning. The worst part was Jim not being able to win,” he continued, before delivering the punch line: “But I would say the winning overshadowed that quite a bit.”As one might suspect, Jon and Jay have entertained thoughts about a Gruden vs. Gruden game.“That would be one of the coolest things in life, really. We’ve played against each other in the backyard since we were kids. A lot of those games ended because our dad spanked us both,” said Jon, 55, about 3½ years older than Jay. “I beat him for years. I beat the hell out of him. … Then something happened where he grew. He got stronger. He got bigger. He got faster than me. I haven’t beaten him one-on-one in basketball, one-on-one in golf — and haven’t beaten him one-on-one in anything for a long time.“It would be cool to go up against him as a coach.”If that happened, would Mom and Dad pull for one child against the other?“I would hope not. If they would, they better be rooting for my team,” Jay said, grinning widely. “I was a better kid. I was the easier son to get along with. I always did what they told me. Ate all my vegetables. Jon Adult Justin Tucker Jersey , on the other hand? They had to discipline him a lot more than me. That’s a fact.”If their father’s time in college football at Notre Dame and Indiana or his work in the NFL swayed their career choices, the Grudens credit their mother, Kathy, with instilling other key qualities.“They encouraged us to find our passion and they supported us through some tough times. My dad was a coach; we grew up around the game. My mom was a teacher, so she emphasized the importance of trying to help your students not only pass, but help them get A’s and be great,” Jon said. “That combination helped us become coaches.”Jim called Kathy “really the driving force” in their sons’ lives. She was the one who took them to all their games when they were young, consoled them after losses and officiated the typical sibling fights. (“He was the one that always picked on me,” Jay recalled.)The most famous tussle came when Jon was a college student and Jay was still in high school.“The ‘Gruden Rule’ was ‘Don’t ever hit in the face.’ So we would punch each other hard, but we would never hit each other in the face. So one day, we got in a fight on the front lawn, and I can still remember cars driving by, stopping, yelling at us to stop fighting. He hit me so many times, so hard, I could not walk. I could hardly get out of bed the next day,” Jon said. “That was the first time he really beat me up — and probably the last time we fought, because of that.”It’s what brothers often do. What brothers also do is help one another.Says Jay: “Obviously, I owe most of my success to Jon.” Even now, his staff has several of Jon’s former players or assistants, including Bill Callahan, Ike Hilliard and Randy Jordan.Jon’s son, Deuce, worked for Jay’s Redskins until his dad got back into coaching and now is a strength coach in Oakland.Jon hired one of Jay’s former colleagues, Paul Guenther, as his defensive coordinator and signed tight end Derek Carrier based in part on rave reviews from Jay, who coached him in Washington.Jon also sought advice from Jay when making the decision to leave the TV booth.“He thought I was crazy Limited Hayden Hurst Jersey , really. The game’s changed. The role of a coach is a tough one right now, with the collective bargaining agreement and the development of players. The rules of the game are different,” Jon said. “‘Do you really need the pressure? Do you really miss the pressure?’ But I’m nuts. I missed it. I missed every part of it. He thought I was nuts, initially, but (he was) supportive.”Jay offered tips about recent rules limiting practice time.When Jay was hired by the Redskins, he said, he took to heart Jon’s admonition “just to be myself, really.”What both agreed was difficult: When Jon was in the TV booth for Jay’s games; the Redskins went 1-6 on “Monday Night Football” the past four seasons.“If you don’t win (or) you call a bad play, you’re going to be called out on it. That’s just the way it is. He had a job to do. I think it would be hard, if I was a commentator, to call him out for a possibly bad call. I might credit the defense or something like that for a ‘great’ call. That’s probably what he tried to do a little bit more,” Jay said. “Probably more awkward for him than for me.”Well, that’s no longer an issue for the Gruden brothers. What is: Finding time to talk on the phone now that they’re on opposite coasts and getting ready for their teams’ seasons.What they know they’ll both be able to expect, though, are postgame calls from Dad — once he’s been told the outcome.“A few minutes. Nothing earth-shattering,” Jim said. “Just try to console or congratulate, one or the other.”Three things we learned in the Ravens’ 34-23 loss to the Bengals: Offensive edition What a difference a week makes. After Baltimore’s resounding 47-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills in week 1, many were pounding tables claiming the Ravens were ‘legit contenders.’ Four days later, Baltimore was soundly defeated by divisional rival the Cincinnati Bengals 34-23, and the narrative has quickly changed. The questions about quarterback Joe Flacco have arisen again, while the calls for Lamar Jackson are getting a little bit louder. The offensive line, specifically Matt Skura and James Hurst, are getting thrown into the fire. The question is what did we learn from the offense in Baltimore’s defeat.1. Orlando Brown Jr. should be the right tackleThe Ravens’ offensive line had one of their worst performances in recent memory, and the final stat line does not tell the whole story. Flacco was sacked four times, but he was under pressure on seemingly every snap. James Hurst allowed multiple pressures, and he was an issue in run-blocking as well. Simply swapping Brown Jr. for Hurst will not solve all of Baltimore’s problems, but it will be a significant improvement. The offensive line should go under substantial changes Hayden Hurst Ravens Jersey , and it should be as follows: LT - Ronnie Stanley - LG James Hurst - C Alex Lewis - RG Marshal Yanda - RT Orlando Brown Jr. 2. Marty Mornhinweg continues to leave a lot to be desiredBaltimore’s game plan was questionable, to say the least (film piece outlining full offensive game plan will be published Tuesday). The Bengals ran a ton of Cover-2 and man coverage against the Raven, which should have allowed Baltimore to attack to seams and flats. That was far from the case in the first half, but they did improve in the second half. The bigger issue was when Cincinnati clearly showed man-coverage, Mornhinweg’s plays relied upon their receivers beating their matchup one-on-one, which is questionable against talented cornerbacks. Instead of scheming up ‘man-beaters’ such as rub concepts or high-low routes, Baltimore attempted to win their matchups without a scheme. The Bengals played off-coverage on Mark Andrews on several occasions, but Flacco nor Mornhinweg made them pay for it. 3. Joe Flacco’s fairytale season was shatteredThroughout the entire offseason, training camp, and preseason, this was labeled the year of Joe Flacco. Many were anticipating that he would have the best season of his career because he is ‘motivated’ by the addition of Lamar Jackson, and he still might. However, Flacco displayed in week two why the Ravens wanted to ‘motivate him,’ or move on from the veteran signal-caller. He is poor against the blitz, and his ability to read defenses is questionable. Flacco’s accuracy was another significant issue on Thursday night, and with a talented slate of pass-rushers coming up on the schedule, he will have a ton to prove. To blame the entire struggled of the offense on Flacco would be invalid, but he deserves a sizable chunk of the blame due to his poor timing on routes, inaccurate throws, and poor identification of coverages. Against a legitimate NFL defense for the first time this season, Flacco failed this test. He will have plenty of more tests to prove himself, but the clock is ticking.
