Former NFL coach Jon Gruden made a surprise appearance at a GOP rally in Vandalia, Ohio, where the Super Bowl winner stumped for incumbent junior senator Jon Husted before an appearance by President Donald Trump.
‘We even have one of my favorite coaches in the whole world here, Jon Gruden,’ Trump told the adoring crowd after Gruden’s speech.
Trump already knows Gruden from at least one round of golf in 2025, if not other occasions as well.
‘He’s a great coach and he’s a very good golfer too,’ Trump continued. ‘Right, Jon? We had a great time. He’s a great winner. He’s a winner.’
The 80-year-old Trump’s speech was well received by his followers, if far more subdued than Gruden’s earlier message.
‘I came back for one reason,’ the famously fiery Gruden called out to the crowd. ‘I’m from Ohio. My mom and dad are from Cleveland. I was born in Sandusky and I went to the University of Dayton and I’m damn proud of it, man!’
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, from left, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Jon Gruden applaud as President Donald Trump speaks during an event at Butler High School in Vandalia
President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an event at Butler High School on Saturday
The crowd at Vandalia’s Butler High School just north of Dayton responded with roaring approval.
‘Jon Husted is a lot more than my friend; he was a great player,’ Gruden said of the former Montpelier High School star. ‘He intercepted 17 passes on the gridiron. He was a great player. And I know why he was a great player. It was because of his work ethic and his commitment and his day-to-day mental toughness. He will never quit on you or anybody.’
Once again, Gruden’s words were met with an eruption of applause.
‘Let’s hear it for Husted,’ he said.
A lifelong conservative who has faced criticism for waffling on Trump’s controversial tariffs, Husted is up against populist Democrat Sherrod Brown in the crucial US Senate race.
So, with an eye towards the November 3 election day, Gruden called on the crowd to both vote for Husted and encourage others to do so as well.
‘Before you know it, this election is over,’ Gruden said. ‘But what we got to do is we got to do our part. Early voting starts Tuesday. Can we be there or not? Let’s be there! And I know you guys got a lot more friends than I do. Get your friends and get their friends and their friends and let’s get Husted back in action! Let’s go! Let’s go!’
Brown currently leads Husted in several recent polls, typically holding a 3-to-4-percent edge.
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (left) was also on hand
Trump referred to Gruden as a good golfer and a ‘winner’ – a word he repeated several times
Gruden’s conservative political beliefs have slowly become public knowledge over the years.
He mostly refrained from making any political statements during his first stint with the Oakland Raiders or his Super Bowl-winning tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And later, while working at ESPN from 2009 until 2018, he maintained a similar mindset.
What wasn’t known at the time was Gruden’s disdain for top Democrats like President Barack Obama and his Vice President, Joe Biden.
It wasn’t until after Gruden’s 2018 return to the Raiders that these beliefs were leaked to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in a series of emails he’d sent to Washington Redskins executive Bruce Allen, the brother of Republican former Virginia Governor and Senator, George Allen.
When those emails did surface in 2021, they also contained Gruden’s racist comments about then-NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith, who is black, as well as homophobic attacks on commissioner Roger Goodell.
Although Gruden would ultimately step down as Raiders coach, he later sued the NFL and Goodell for $150 million, claiming the league leaked the emails to the Times and Journal. A league spokesman has denied the claim and a jury trial is scheduled to begin in May of 2027.
