After amassing more than 7,000 passing yards and 40 passing touchdowns as a quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals, Jay Gruden played one season in the defunct World League of American Football before going on to enjoy a successful eight-year career in the Arena Football League. During his AFL career, he won four ArenaBowl titles and was later named the fourth greatest player in AFL history.

Gruden’s coaching career began in 1997 as an Offensive Coordinator for the AFL’s Nashville Kats and he even became the Head Coach of another AFL franchise, the Orlando Predators, before choosing to return to the field as the starting quarterback of the Predators. He soon found himself back on the sideline with coaching stints in the AFL, UFL, and also as on Offensive Assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where his older brother, Jon Gruden, was the Head Coach.

In 2011, the younger Gruden finally broke through into the NFL on his own when he became the Offensive Coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals:

As you may notice above, the Cincinnati offense displayed a marked improvement in each of Gruden’s three seasons and that success was parlayed into his appointment as the Head Coach in Washington. Much of that year-to-year improvement can be attributed to a young, improving group of playmakers and the organization making a concerted effort to surround their quarterback with weapons.

Perhaps Washington took notice of Cincinnati’s approach; after bringing in Gruden, they signed Andre Roberts and then brought in DeSean Jackson later on, which will provide Robert Griffin III with the best group of receivers he’s had in his short career… To find out what we can expect from Griffin III and Co. under Gruden’s leadership, head over to Footballyguys, where all offseason content is free.