No, Mississippi State football should NOT hire Jon Gruden if Jeff Lebby fails

Football season is fast approaching, and "Grumors" are already being fired up. Over the weekend, clips surfaced of Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden speaking to the Georgia football team. During his speech, he told the team "I'd die to coach in the SEC."

There's long been talks about the "Spider 2 Y Banana" loving play-caller making the move to college football. For years people have pushed the idea of him coaching Tennessee, his wife's alma mater and where his coaching career began.

Now that Gruden has publicly expressed his desire to be an SEC coach, everyone is wondering which SEC programs should take a swing at him. With current HC Jeff Lebby's future already in doubt after an awful first season, could Mississippi State end up turning to Jon Gruden to save the program?

Jon Gruden would be a disaster at Mississippi State

Look, I like Jon Gruden. He's a fun personality in the sport, and I absolutely love hearing him talk the schematics of the game. He is a true football savant.

But he is not the guy to be coaching Mississippi State if the Bulldogs have to move on from Jeff Lebby.

Why? Because there's literally no evidence he'd be successful as a college head coach! Gruden was last in the college ranks all the way back in 1989, spending a total of four years at the level. We have no idea if he understands how to run a college program. You'd be making the hire entirely off of the idea of making a splashy move that'll get the program put in the spotlight, which admittedly is a current trend in college coaching hires, but that doesn't mean it's the right move.

Now one could argue that coaching in college today more closely resembles coaching in the NFL thanks to NIL, revenue sharing, and the Transfer Portal. But it's not like Gruden had just a stellar all-around tenure in the league.

Yes, he did a nice job building up the Raiders during his first stint there, and he obviously won a Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa. He was at one time an outstanding NFL coach. But his Buccaneers tenure quickly turned mediocre after their title, and his second stint with the Raiders after a long break from coaching was terrible.

We're talking about a coach with a career .511 win percentage who reached the playoffs in only 1/3 of the seasons he coached. He isn't some coaching legend. He's a guy who saw the game pass him bye on multiple occasions.

And let's not forget that even with a revenue sharing cap in place in college, it's still far from the NFL in terms of competitive balance. Gruden's Buccaneers and Raiders squads were never at a disadvantage resource-wise relative to the rest of the NFL. Mississippi State, even with all the growth the program has seen from a funding standpoint, does not match up to the SEC's top programs.

It's a tough job that takes outstanding coaching and, often, a unique approach to find success. And while there's no doubt hiring Jon Gruden would be unique, this is a program that needs coaches who have proven they can do more with less.

Gruden is also notorious for running an incredibly complicated and demanding offensive system that many players, even at the NFL level, struggled to master. We've seen what happens when coaches have come to State trying to run complex schemes that don't fit the personnel available. It doesn't look pretty.

And if you need any more convincing, Gruden has already made it very clear he's not a fan of Starkville. Last December while on Barstool Sports' Mostly Sports podcast, cohosted by diehard Bulldog Brandon Walker, Gruden ripped into Mississippi State, specifically the cowbell tradition.

I'm pretty sure that's not the guy that State fans want leading the program, and it sure sounds like Gruden wouldn't be interested anyways (Note, there's some strong language in the clip)...

Bulldog fans are down on their program right now, and they're going to fantasize about making a move that generates buzz and excitement. Obviously, hiring a name as big as Jon Gruden would accomplish that. But buzz does not equate to wins.

I have no idea if Jeff Lebby is going to work out in Starkville. Right now, it's completely fair to have serious doubts about the direction of the program. If Lebby doesn't turn things around quickly, then the program will once again be searching for a new coach. But if that happens, Jon Gruden won't and shouldn't be the answer.