Raiders owner Mark Davis says Jon Gruden’s resignation set organization back: ‘His head was chopped off’

Pete Carroll has signed a 3-year deal to become the Las Vegas Raiders’ next head coach. Colin Cowherd discusses the hire and if the Raiders made the right move.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis hired Jon Gruden as head coach in 2018, locking him with a massive 10-year contract with the confidence that bringing Gruden back would bring stability and success to the organization. 

Instead, Gruden would be forced to resign years later over an email scandal – a sequence of events that Davis believes largely set the organization back. 

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Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, left, talks to team owner Mark Davis before the Raiders play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Aug. 21, 2021. (Robert Hanashiro-USA Today Sports)

Speaking to the media on Monday, Davis praised the additions of new head coach Pete Carroll and new general manager John Spytek. However, he also praised the team’s new "infrastructure," which includes Tom Brady as a minority owner. 

"Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody that was on the football side that I had been lacking having here at the organization," Davis said. 

"Back in 2018 with Jon Gruden, he was someone that I brought in and really expected to be that person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization. He had a 10-year contract and all that – and his head was chopped off."  

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, left, speaks with owner Mark Davis before the game against the Denver Broncos at Oakland Coliseum on Dec. 24, 2018. (Kelley L Cox-USA Today Sports)

EX-NFL COACH JON GRUDEN RIPS STATE OF COLLEGE SPORTS

Gruden, who is currently suing the NFL, resigned after leaked emails sent by the former