Over the last few hours, rumors have been flying fast and furious that Jon Gruden is on the verge of agreeing to become the new head coach at the University of Miami. It began as a tweet from Lake Lewis, Jr. in which he said he had a credible source telling him that Gruden was going to the U with a deal of approximately $3 million per year. Since then there have been some other stories about it including mention by the Miami Herald and others. This was followed by Peter King tweeting it wasn't going to happen and then ESPN issuing a statement that Gruden would be staying with ESPN.
The timing of this supposed rumor got me thinking. Tomorrow night the 3-7 San Francisco 49ers and the 3-7 Arizona Cardinals square off in an MNF game that probably isn't the most anticipated game in recent memory. I actually think it will be an entertaining game because the Cardinals and 49ers have a history of fun football games. However, the majority of America probably does not agree with me and may not tune in.
Now suddenly rumors are flying about Jon Gruden potentially taking a job as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. It gets people talking about Gruden mostly, but ESPN as well given his role on Monday Night Football. I'm starting to wonder if somebody at ESPN was the original source of this whole story? The ESPN statement pokes some holes in my theory because the optimal decision would be waiting until tomorrow night and having Gruden address the issue at that point.
However, given the number of episodes of Sportscenter we'll see between now and then, it was going to come up before the game anyway. Even still, Gruden likely will address the rumor during MNF and some folks might choose to tune in because of that.
What do you guys think? Is this a hoax perpetrated by ESPN to boost ratings for one of their less anticipated MNF matchups of the year? Or am I just over-analyzing this?