The Raiders needed a new coach going into the 1998 season as they tried to turn the franchise around.
They ultimately hired Jon Gruden, but the team apparently had its eyes on someone else.
“Bill Belichick had the job. He was going to get the head coaching job,” Gruden told Julian Edelman on his “Games With Names” podcast. “He called me and says, ‘Hey, do you want this job?’ Like, what are you talking about? ‘Do you want the Raiders job?’ I go, ‘Yeah, I do.’ He goes, ‘You can have it, I’m pulling my name out.’”
Belichick was the defensive coordinator and assistant coach of the New York Jets at the time. He remained there until 1991 when he became the coach of the Cleveland Browns. He spent the 1996 season with the New England Patriots under Bill Parcells before returning to the Jets from 1997-99.
In 2000, Belichick resigned as coach of the Jets after one day and was named the coach of the Patriots. From there, he helped lead New England to six Super Bowls across two separate dynasties.
Gruden, meanwhile, got the Raiders coaching job in 1998. Charles Woodson was drafted with the No. 4 overall pick and finished 8-8 the next two seasons. They went 12-4 in 2000 and made it to the AFC Championship Game before falling to the Baltimore Ravens. The Raiders made it to the playoffs in 2001 again, but the Patriots beat them in overtime in the infamous “Tuck Rule” game.
The Raiders hired Gruden a second time in 2018 after being out of the NFL for nine years. He signed a 10-year contract, but Gruden resigned in 2021 after homophobic and misogynistic e-mails surfaced.