While none of the various rumors about him returning to a coaching job ever seem to come to pass, Jon Gruden is perhaps even more influential in the football world as an ESPN analyst. His high-profile work on Monday Night Football is one thing, but his offseason prospect series Gruden QB Camp is maybe even more important, as its profile has risen to a point where agents consider it essential for their prospects. That raises some interesting questions about Gruden’s various roles in the football world and how they intersect, though. Emily Kaplan of The MMQB has a good piece looking behind the scenes of Gruden QB Camp, and the quotes she includes from agent Ryan Tollner particularly stands out:

It’s been seven years since Gruden last paced an NFL sideline, 13 since he won a Super Bowl and 15 since he was among People magazine’s Most Beautiful. And yet… his celebrity is arguably as strong as ever. Broadcasting in ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth with Mike Tirico, the 52-year-old Gruden averages a dozen Vine-ready soundbites by halftime. But it’s his offseason miniseries, “Gruden QB Camp,” that nurtures his cultish popularity. 

The program began in 2010. Since then, there have been 50 participants. Although a handful have been non-quarterbacks (tackle Luke Joeckel, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, linebacker Manti Te’o, to name a few), the show centers on the NFL’s marquee position. With an alumni list that includes Blake Bortles, Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Andy Dalton, Robert Griffin, Andrew Luck, Marcus Mariota, Cam Newton, Brock Osweiler, Ryan Tannehill, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, Gruden’s camp is now a pre-draft requisite for any top quarterback prospect. Says agent Ryan Tollner, who represents Wentz and this year’s other presumed top QB, Jared Goff: “Besides the combine and pro days, I told my clients, the Gruden Quarterback Camp is the only obligation they have to do.” 

…Tollner considers the camp more educational for his clients than it is a media opportunity. “When these guys go in for team visits or at the combine, the team is just trying to figure out what they need of them,” Tollner says. “Jon is giving these guys an unfiltered assessment. Nobody else is telling them that.”

It’s not just the day on camera at the camp, either. Kaplan’s piece also touches on the extra contact with Gruden some prospects get, and on how some would have loved to be involved but weren’t:

If Gruden is criticized for being too complimentary of quarterbacks, it is only because he has a love affair with the position and those who want to be great at it. Gruden uses the phrase, You love football, don’t you? in the same way some most people say, “What’s up?” He’d host every draft-eligible quarterback if he could swing it. “The first time I met Christian Ponder,” Gruden says of the 2010 draftee who did not appear on the show, “he was like ‘Thanks a lot, man.’ I don’t have control over it! I wish I could have everyone!”

Gruden offers his cell phone number to each participant. “Call me anytime,” he will say, and he means it. Gruden regularly communicates with ex-campers Kirk Cousins and Andrew Luck. After their filming day, some quarterbacks come back for individual tutoring. Goff stayed an extra day, and Wentz was hoping to return, though a schedule conflict had him still finagling a date. Marcus Mariota, another Tollner client, also spent extra time with Gruden before being selected second overall in 2015. 

…Mariota worked with Gruden on protecting himself at the end of plays (in college, he often took unnecessary hits after a big run), as well as ball security. Another plus: Some NFL and college players train at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, which allowed Gruden to help Mariota work on commanding a huddle. In the pre-draft process, Mariota previously found it difficult to summon enough players to even form a huddle.

The unconventional arrangement makes it difficult to classify Gruden: Is he a media member? An analyst? An advocate? Does it even matter? There is perhaps no other person in football who gets this much access to the top quarterback prospects, and as such Gruden’s opinion is a commodity. “Right before the draft, his phone is blowing up,” Arteaga says. “And you know who’s calling? Owners, general managers, coaches—all of them.”

It’s not that Gruden’s necessarily doing anything wrong here. He’s providing an entertaining show that has value for both prospects and ESPN (helping to justify why he’s paid more than any other ESPN personality), and the idea of him passing on his football knowledge to young NFL players has some points in its favor, too. There are potential drawbacks and conflicts of interest here as well, though.

First, if appearing on Gruden’s QB Camp is as important as Tollner says, what does that mean for the quarterbacks who aren’t invited to appear? Does ESPN and its selection of players for this have an impact on the NFL draft? Beyond that, Gruden’s extra work with particular prospects and his frequent communication with past campers can be seen as a good thing for their development, but it also raises questions about if he can objectively analyze them from the Monday Night Football booth (especially in relation to players he hasn’t worked closely with). Kaplan’s piece also explores how he visits with and works with various coaching staffs, which again isn’t necessarily bad, but carries further conflict-of-interest potential.

So far, we haven’t seen huge demonstrable impacts from any conflicts of interest Gruden may have, so any concerns are mostly theoretical. It’s also worth considering that his analysis of individual players is frequently (and sometimes too frequently) positive, so it’s not like he’s out there trashing guys who didn’t go to his camp, or only praising the ones who did. However, Gruden’s various shifting roles and potential conflicts do mean it’s important to keep an eye on his work and see if there ever is any perceived favoritism. These conflicts are largely disclosed (who’s attended the QB camp is a matter of public record), which is a good step. It may be worthwhile for media and fans to keep an eye on Gruden’s work as it pertains to potential conflicts, though. To date, he seems to have been able to juggle the roles of coach, camp host and analyst reasonably well. We’ll see if he can keep that up.

[The MMQB]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.