Former Raiders and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden is taking his first steps back into coaching… sort of.
Gruden was hired on Wednesday by the Milano Seamen as an advisor to the five-time Italian Bowl champions in the European League of Football.
As part of the job, Gruden will help to improve the organization “in every aspect,” the team said in an announcement about the hiring.
The Seaman organization said Gruden already had started working with its coaching staff in a post on X, which was accompanied by a photo of the former NFL coach wearing a Seamen shirt and hat.
The new gig is Gruden’s first official job in football since he resigned from coaching the Raiders in 2021 after emails containing racist, misogynistic and homophobic language surfaced publicly.
The emails became public five games into the 2021 season and had been uncovered as part of the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Commanders’ toxic workplace culture under former owner Dan Snyder.
Gruden had expressed embarrassment and remorse over the language he used in the emails, which he called “shameful” and said in 2022 that he’d “make no excuse for it.”
Gruden has also hoped for a shot at redemption as well.
“I am a good person. I believe that,” he said in 2022, according to USA Today. “I go to church. I’ve been married for 31 years. I’ve got three great boys. I still love football. … I just ask for forgiveness and, hopefully, I get another shot.”
Gruden did file a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell in late 2021, claiming the league had leaked the emails in order to force him out of his position with the Raiders.
Gruden coached 15 seasons between the Raiders and Buccaneers, and led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl crown in 2002.