Jon Gruden on Coaching, Culture & Building Tough Athletes

Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden joins The Turf: Powered by D1 for a wide-ranging conversation on what really builds great athletes—and great teams. Gruden dives into why the weight room is the foundation of leadership and mental toughness, how coaches can elevate their communication and energy (“juice”), and the traits he values most in players beyond just talent.

He also shares real-world advice for parents navigating today’s youth sports landscape—from NIL pressure to postgame conversations in the car—and explains why effort, execution, and passion matter more than hype or exposure. Plus, Gruden reflects on the mentors who shaped his career, the importance of surrounding yourself with driven people, and why team sports remain one of the best paths to discipline, resilience, and long-term success.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I was a graduate coach at Tennessee. I came from Dayton. I was a Division III backup quarterback. I go to Tennessee. They're the defending Sugar Bowl champs. I didn't know what a three technique was. I didn't know nothing. I was a blank VCR tape. You can buy me at Walgreens. I was nothing. But all of a sudden, VCR, VCR tape, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Welcome to the turf powered by D1. Man, we are so excited to have John Gruden, the legendary coach. Let's go, Super Bowl winning coach. Now uh TV personality.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

I don't know what I am.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Yeah, all those great things.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I do, I do love sports though. I do love them all.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Man, we're fired up to have you inside D1. Man, I'd love to love to just start talking about uh first. I want to start in the weight room. Yeah. How like when you think about coaching, you think about all the strength and conditioning coaches you've worked with, like what does the weight room mean to a football coach?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Well, that weight coach spends more time with the players than us coaches. Really important. You know, we are talking to the whole team, D-line, wideouts, quarterbacks. We all got to lift. Some guys are at different levels, some guys need different things to get better. But that coach, that coach is important. My son is a great strength coach. And um, we've always taken pride in hiring the right guy for that position. That's why I love these D1s. Everyone I go to, I meet guys that are not only intelligent, that know how to coach, but they have some enthusiasm. They make me actually want to do the work.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Yeah, that's awesome. You bring up a good point. Uh you know, when you when you when you're hiring your strength and get, we got a lot of coaches that listen to this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

And they're out there, they're trying to be maybe an NFL strength coach or a college strength coach. You know, what what would you tell them? What are the the one, two, three things that you look for when you were were hiring a strength coach?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Well, first of all, they got to believe in themselves. If I can be a head coach, anybody can be a head coach. So chase your dream. If you want to be a strength coach in the NFL, you can be one. But I think you got to get around some people that can help fast track you, guys that can teach you. You got to keep learning, keep accumulating knowledge. There's different techniques, there's different lifts, and there's some really uh specific techniques and uh skill that you gotta have to hammer the big weights. But uh there's endurance training, there's quickness training, there's all kinds of training, but keep accumulating knowledge, you never get enough, and keep chasing your dream. You can do it if you put your heart to it.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

That's awesome. That's awesome. So when you were um, and I'm yeah, I'm trying to think, think of all the stops you've had. Any uh any specific stories that jump off on your brain that happened in the weight room? I feel like I feel like a lot of um behind the scenes stories happen in the weight room.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah, well, I spent a lot of, I still lift weights. I I got a couple injuries.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Your son's your son cannot lift you though.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Well, my son's the strongest 180-pound man in the world, arguably. He's got a gold medal to prove it. But um, I think the camaraderie that you build in the weight room, I think the relationships, the ability to push each other, that's where leadership on your team is born. Guys that are in there uh in the dark days when no one's practicing. Uh your work ethic, your mental toughness, uh, a lot of that is created in the weight room. And I think the fabric of the team, you know, we got to do the things we don't really like to do so we can do the things we like to do. But uh you got to be creative in the weight room. Music, the drills, the techniques, all these things gotta be mixed up to get the best results, I think.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Yeah, that's good. I think I think too, um one of the things I try to pride ourselves in here at D1 is is being great at communication. Yeah, that's big. And uh you've talked about that a lot. I'd love for you to maybe expand to some of those coaches out there on how important it is to communicate.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Yeah, I mean, verbally, um, being specific. I talk about loam, large open, moving mouth. I think body language is another form of communication, you know. Show you're excited, you know, have a little juice about you. Um, but I think communication between the coach and the player is vital. If you don't understand something, don't be a bobblehead and just sit there like you got it. You know, encourage your players, hey, ask a question if you don't understand something. And if you're a coach and you're explaining the drills and you're not doing it properly, it's too complicated or it's boring, get your presentation skills going. Preparation and presentation go hand in hand. Don't be one of these guys with all this information that can't knock their socks off when you get a chance to present it. And don't be some guy that's just a presenter that hasn't done the preparation. So I love seeing coaches, especially in here, that have done the preparation that know exactly how to present it, man. Those are the best.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

That's good. I'm I I have a um one of our coaches has a saying, he says, uh, you're useless if you're juiceless. Yeah, I believe that.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

That's a I'm gonna steal that.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Uh and when I think of you, you bring so much energy and passion to coaching and just everything you're doing. And um, I'm this is this is a a question for me. Like, how do you keep that drive, that excitement? You mean you've you've been doing this for um a lot of years.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Well, I think I found something I love to do. You know, you love D1s, you love what you're doing. You know, if you don't love it, find something you do love. Life is too short. You know, too many people I think are doing what they are supposed to, they think they're supposed to do to please somebody else, uh, instead of really chasing their gut, chasing their heart. You know what I mean? But I love doing what I do, and um I can't wait till the next day. Sometimes I have a hard time going to sleep because I can't wait to get up and do it again. But um juice is something you can't fake. You know, you gotta find your passion and you gotta chase it down, man. And you you know, if you lose your passion, you're in trouble. You better reinvent yourself or you better find a new way to do business.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

And I like to surround myself with passionate people too. I mean, if you're a great coach, you gotta have guys on your staff that have the same feeling and and and you know, the same environment we're trying to create here.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's good. Who what what uh what play what what player or staff, when you think back on, like who really pushed you?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Well, when I got a job with Mike Holmgren and the Packers, that was when it all started. But at Tennessee, I was a graduate coach at Tennessee. I came from Dayton. I was a Division III backup quarterback. I go to Tennessee, they're the defending Sugar Bowl champs. I didn't know what a three technique was. I didn't know nothing. I was a blank VCR tape. You can buy me at Walgreens. I was nothing. But all of a sudden, VCR, man. VCR tape, that's what it is. But Walt Harris, the offensive coordinator, he beat me up, man. He taught me how to read defenses, draw defenses, attack defenses, formulate drills, communicate with quarterbacks, coach on the field. I mean, there's so many things I learned, but he put the pressure on me, man. He he was on me about learning. And uh I didn't want to let him down. And plus, I was really eager to someday have his job. You know, I just thought he was the coolest. I looked up to the guy. So I encourage you to get around somebody that you admire, go to a clinic, study somebody that you admire, get on a on a cell phone today. You can look guys up and get access to information I never had when I was growing up. But um, like I said, lock in on what you want to do and go do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

That's awesome. We also got a lot of parents that listen to this podcast, and they're raising athletes just like I'm doing, just like you did, or you're doing still, right? You're still raising um young men. And when you when you think about the parents, you think about kind of where sports are going. You have this NIO world, you have this um, you know, do certain drills, like there's a lot of not good information, there's a lot of great information out there. Uh, and there's more information. So it can be a little confusing. So if you're talking to a parent out there, what do you what do you want to drill home? Like, what do you want to make sure these um parents know, like, hey, this is when I when I think about the training, because uh, you know, these are a couple of things I I would make sure you focus on.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

I think it's hard really being a parent now with like the distractions and the temptations and the pressure to do the best you can for your kid. You know, you want them to get a million dollars in NIL, you want them to be in the NFL or the women's basketball championship. You want that. Uh, can you afford it? You know, can you really make sure that your son or your daughter gets to where the facility is? Can you pick them up and take them there every day? There's a lot of issues that not everybody can be on the same page with. So I say, you know, trust your instincts. I would try to be my own kid's coach. You know, I'll train my son myself. I'll get out there, I'll learn some drills, and I'll spend some time with them. Or I'll do it with somebody in my neighborhood. You know, I'll try to attach them with a couple kids and one of their parents. Maybe we can take turns. I would go that route. And if I had access to D1, you know, I would come in here and look hard into that. But I think you got to do what you can do. Don't worry about what you can't do. Worry about the things you can control and help your son or daughter uh just be all they can possibly be. And if they're good enough, they'll get discovered. They don't need to transfer, you know, to this school. They don't need to go all the way to this. If your son or daughter's good enough, trust me, they will find them. And I know it's tough because some of the players leave, some of the players leave your team depleted. There's so many issues I don't have time to address. I would just do the best you can and feel great about that.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

I love that. That's good. One of the things that we get asked uh all the time is um athletes when they're riding home with their parent in the car after a game. And these athletes, they say that's that was the most stressful time in their life. It's crazy. You know, they're thinking about yeah, to the parents. And uh, you know, when you're thinking about parents and you're like, um uh thinking about this athlete riding home in the car after a performance, what what advice would you give a a dad uh who's talking to their kid or give me if I'm talking to my son, you know, riding home in the car?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Well, they're not alone in their feelings. You know, a lot of us are driving home. We're mad at the coach, you know, we're mad at the referee, we're mad at somebody on the team who didn't do their job properly. That's just part of being a parent, you know. So don't act like you're the only one. I would just say keep your poise, you know, when it's right, you know, when the emotions tie down or die down a little, and you've had a chance to think about it, then make sure you make your points. But don't be a hothead and rant and rave because you you can't take things back. And I've been guilty of doing that sometimes. But grade the effort. You know, how hard did your son play? You know, how much effort did your daughter play with? And did you execute your assignments? Did you know what you were doing? You know, I would start there and uh compliment them on execution and effort. And um, you know, after that, you know, you you you gotta be the judge of the situation and trust your instincts and let her rip.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

I love that. Let her rip, let her rip. So you get to you get to see these amazing quarterbacks and you're in the middle of it right now. You're getting to work out with these guys that are gonna go in the next level in the league. What uh what are a couple characteristics that like man you love to see?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

I like to see passion. I like to see guys that are, you know, on top of the details, guys that really want to get better and work at it. You know, guys can sit up in a chair and not make the same mistake twice. There's a lot of information. They got to learn it. It's not just run up there and clap your hands. There's some details we got to tighten up and be on top of. But I get tired of talking about quarterbacks. You know what I mean, Will? Everything's about Elite 11 quarterbacks. I'm interested in offensive linemen. I want to see, I want to find some of you young offensive linemen. They're paying a million dollars for guards in college. Nobody's playing on the offensive line. And there's some big kids that could make a lot of money and have a big impact on their life and on their team by just coming out and playing. But I hate to sit down and keep talking about quarterbacks, quarterbacks. We can't play quarterback without an O-line, without a tight end, without a couple backs. And we got to remember that in football. I think too many parents want to make their kid the next Peyton Manning instead of, hey, there's other positions that need help too, that are paying uh to get scholarships or paying quite a good amount of money, too.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah, it's big.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Plus, you know, being on a team, man. You know, the benefits of being on a team, that's where you learn your mental toughness. That's where you learn your teamwork, your dedication, your discipline. Being on a team, doing the things that you gotta do to be a member of a team.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yeah, that's good. That's good. Do you do you uh when you sit back, and you obviously have built a great career outside of outside of uh coaching, but when you sit back, is that is that what you miss as the team, is the locker?

SPEAKER_01 14:12

I do, yeah. That's what I feel like most players say. Yeah, I do. That's why I hang out in these D1s, or I have people coming by my office, or I go and visit teams. I become one of your members. You know, I just I love being around the the juice of a team. I like the idea of helping a guy get 1% better every day. You know, you get a little bit quicker, you gain a little bit of knowledge, you get a little bit stronger, a little twitchier. You know, there's a lot of areas that you can help, but you got to put the work in, man. And you got to have a place to put the work in at. That's why these places are important. A lot of fields are getting shut down these days. There's not a lot of places for kids to go anymore. And that's why I love being a part of this D1 product, this atmosphere, because it gives people the opportunity to get better.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

I love it. That's awesome. Let's go. You know, when you're thinking about parents out there, they see you on on the on uh social media, they'll see you on Barstool now. Does the um does that person, is it just natural, that personality, or is it that's just who you are? That's just the coach.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Yeah, I mean, I I don't know what I'm doing at Barstool, honestly. You know, it's it's a really cool opportunity to share some things with people out there. Football. Might be opening up a box from Tennessee or Cincinnati. You know, it might be, hey, look at this hula bowl. I got to coach the hula bowl. Let me share that with you guys. Uh, some of the people you get to meet, some of the things you get to see, just having a good time and trying to share a little bit with people and make some friends along the way. Life is too short, man. Have a few laughs. Don't take yourself too serious. People make fun of me. You know, I've seen some really bad imitations of me out there, by the way. But um, man, I just love I love people, man. I love young people that are on their way up, and you'd like to help push them over the top if you can. Some people get stuck. You know, some people feel like they're falling. They need to be lifted up. But, you know, guys like us, man, there's a lot of guys like you and I out there that are trying to help people get a little bit better and push them over the edge and they can become great, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Yeah, I think that's why I love this business because I have um men and women and couples that come in and they own these franchises and they want to help bring that to the community, that toughness. Yeah. And that grit, these character words that are on the wall. Think about that. Yeah. So it's uh it's to me, it's like my way to get back to these communities and help these athletes get some of that grit.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Let's get back to work. Let's get out on the field, get these guys going, man.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. So so back in the day, 1980s, you're walking in the Dayton strength and conditioning weight room. Uh, what does it look like and how is it different than today?

SPEAKER_01 17:00

I, you know, I don't really remember it being any different. You know, you check into the weight room, you check into the workout, you're ready to compete with your teammates.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

I'm gonna outwork you, man. You're gonna outwork me. And we're gonna show this coach I should be first string. I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get better today. But I I remember all kinds of different circuit training we did, legs one day, upper body, speed and quickness. Now the facilities are better, but you still got to put the work in, you know. You know, we we had a great strength coach that was pushing us at Dayton. I'm sure they still have one today. But um, you know, the technology is obviously different. But different technology isn't necessarily better technology. I always get new technology. I said, I don't want new technology, I want better technology. Can that make me faster? Can that make me jump higher? I want that. But if it's just new, but that's what I like about this, is we have what we need, the cutting edge. You know, we don't need all any more bells and whistles. Some of these places are all bells and whistles.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

I mean, you have a you have a great platform right now to be able to speak into people's lives, which we love. You know, uh you were you were saying back in the office, you know, you got seven-year-olds coming up to you now, uh knowing who you are, who running around when, you know, and and uh to me, when you when you think about the next generation of athletes, one of the things I'm super passionate about is um inspiring and motivating these athletes to reach their goals. And I want to do it with these character words in mind. So when you think about the next generation of athletes, what kind of impact do you want to leave? What kind of legacy do you want to leave on athletics, not just football, because I I do think it goes beyond the mindset, the energy, the passion goes beyond just football.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Well, that's a that's a deep question.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

You know, I'm not I stay in two feet of water, I don't get too deep. I just want uh people to play sports. Girls, boys, I want them all playing sports. Because I know this. Um that's gonna help you in life. Because you're eventually gonna have somebody tell you what to do and you gotta do it. You gotta listen to a coach. Eventually you're gonna be behind on the scoreboard. You're gonna be behind and you got to catch up. And you got to finish. You got to learn how to showcase your effort and finish. You can't quit under any circumstances. Otherwise, the Falcons would have beat the Patriots when it was 28 to 3. You just never say die. But you always find ways to get better and improve and to be on a team, you learn your sportsmanship, your accountability, all these different things. Plus, you stay in shape. And the quality of life is way better. And plus, some of the people you meet in these places are going good places, you see. So, you know, you get yourself in the channel of success. That's what I want you to do. Get in the channel of success. You're gonna meet people that are in the same channel, you're gonna have more fun, and I think your quality of life will be better. That's just me personally.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

I love that. Great answer. Awesome. Thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Will Bartholomew, man, D1. Get a ticket.