Jon Gruden denies Jets approached him about possibly joining staff: 'There was never anything'

"There's a lot of stupid rumors out there. Some of these reports are ridiculous. Let's just say there was never anything from the Jets, and I wish them well in their search for a new offensive coordinator," Gruden said.

The Jets have turned over just about their entire coaching staff aside from the head coach. Aaron Glenn has parted ways with numerous assistants after just one year, including his offensive and defensive coordinators.

Gruden's coaching days have been in limbo since parting ways with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 during his third year of a 10-year contract. He left after he was found to have used racist, sexist and homophobic language in emails.

Gruden sued the NFL after he left the Raiders, alleging that a "malicious and orchestrated campaign" was used to destroy his career by leaking the emails. The leaked messages were from when he was an ESPN analyst and a "Monday Night Football" broadcaster.

"Hopefully I'm not done. I'm about to make a comeback," Gruden said about coaching in July. "Hopefully, some of these guys that fell off my branch, if you say it that way, maybe they can hire me 'cause I'm looking for a job.

"I don't care if I coach at Jones Junior High. I'm going to coach again. I'm still coaching. I'm just not on a team officially, but I do have some private assignments I work on, and I wear some gear when I'm watching the games that nobody knows about who I'm pulling for."

Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand and the Jets reportedly parted ways Tuesday after conversations regarding a change in his role. They were unable to agree on what his role should be, resulting in the split.

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.