Monday Night Football announcer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was a guest in a podcast with NFL Network host Rich Eisen yesterday. Rich Eisen asked Jon Gruden the inevitable question about returning to the sidelines and if he would entertain offers next season. Gruden answered that if someone seeks him out, “I think I might”. He said he’s not actively seeking anything and concentrating on his duties at Monday Night Football. Yada yada yada, you always have to throw in the lines, I’m happy where I’m at, the people are great.

Jon Gruden is a free agent head coach and could pretty much choose the team he wants to go to as long as the team needed a coach. I believe there are three teams that might hunt his services on the sideline for next year. The Cleveland Browns. The Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers.

The Cleveland Browns- Jon Gruden is from Ohio and attended the University of Dayton. Gruden has long been linked to a possible reunion with Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren. Current Browns head coach Eric Mangini got a reprieve for this season but the Browns are currently 1-5 and barring a miracle finish, Mangini is likely gone at the conclusion of the season. The Browns might sniff out Gruden and bring him in for an interview in the offseason but I think in the end, Mike Holmgren will return to the sidelines next year for the Browns.

The Dallas Cowboys- Jon Gruden likes the spotlight and there is no bigger stage than coaching the Dallas Cowboys. Wade Phillips might have the endorsement of Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones right now, but unless Phillips runs the table and wins the Super Bowl, he will most likely be looking for work January 3rd, 2011. The combination of Jerry Jones and Jon Gruden would no doubt provide great material. Dallas does have some great offensive weapons and it would be interesting to see if Gruden could actually make Tony Romo into an elite NFL caliber quarterback.

The San Diego Chargers- What a train wreck the Chargers have become this season. Yes, the Chargers with Norv Turner are known for starting slow but this season borders on ridiculous. San Diego has the NFL’s top rated offense and overall fourth rated defense yet they have two wins to show for their efforts. I know that Turner’s problems are growing old with the Chargers fan base, and it has to be getting old with the ownership as well, after all this is a team that fired Marty Schottenheimer after he went 14-2. And by the way, the Chargers play the Oakland Raiders twice a year, something Gruden most likely wouldn’t mind.