As it turns out, not only is the door officially closed on Jon Gruden becoming the next head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, the door was barely ajar in the first place.
Speaking on an ESPN conference call this afternoon, Gruden apologized for all of the speculation regarding his interest in the vacancy, and said that, while he did meet with athletic director Kirby Hocutt, they “never really got into the actual specifics of the job.”
“Well, I don’t want to get into it, really,” Gruden said when asked why he met with Hocutt. “This was just an exploratory meeting and there was nothing ever really serious about this. My brother went to University of Miami medical school. I’m a big fan, I want the Hurricanes to do well and if I can help them in any way find the right coach, I want to be able to do that. ...
“I’d just like to say I’m committed to ESPN. There’s not a lot to add. I’m very thankful to have the job that I have and I’m eager to try to get better at it. And I know there was a lot of speculation over the last few days, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m just excited to be with Monday Night Football.”
With Gruden out of the mix, the next tier of rumored candidates includes Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh and Arizona’s Mike Stoops.