‘I hate that’ – Jon Gruden reveals why $5.5bn stadium that hosted Super Bowl is worst NFL arena

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Jon Gruden spent over two decades coaching at the college and NFL levels.He won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003 and enjoyed two spells with the Oakland Raiders, helping with the relocation to Las Vegas.Gruden left the Raiders and beat them in the Super Bowl with the BucsGettyHe resigned in 2021 amid an investigation into leaked emails — which are the subject of an ongoing court battle between Gruden and the NFL.His son still works for the franchise and the coach-turned-broadcaster remains a fan of the Silver and Black.Gruden — now an analyst for Barstool Sports — sat down with sports influencer Peighton Tubre recently and was asked to name the worst NFL stadium to play in.He didn’t hesitate and went straight to the home of one of the Raiders’ AFC West rivals.“I hate that new L.A. stadium,” Gruden said. “I hate that visitors locker room. What is the name of that?“SoFi Stadium,” Tubre replied.“I hate that stadium,” Gruden added.SoFi Stadium, which hosts the AFC West Chargers, as well as the Rams, is the most expensive arena in sports.It cost a whopping $5.5 billion to build, with a little help from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and hosted the Super Bowl in 2022 — a 23-20 victory for the Rams on home turf.Gruden didn’t go into any more details as to why he hates the locker rooms so much, but has been linked with a return to the sidelines.Gruden returned to Oakland and led the team during its move to Sin CitySoFi Stadium proved a lucky omen for the RamsGettyThe state-of-the-art arena cost a fortuneGettyWill Jon Gruden coach again?LSU coach Brian Kelly is under pressure and Gruden is among the names being cited as a potential replacement.The former Raider was invited to the Detroit Lions‘ training camp to see close friend John Morton settling into his first offensive coordinator post and said he is keen to pick up a clipboard.“Hopefully I’m not done,” Gruden said. “I’m about to make a comeback. I’m working hard to maybe get one more shot, but 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.”Asked if he could return to the NFL, he added, “Oh, I don’t care about that.“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.”Gruden was happy that Lions chief Dan Campbell was happy to let him observe and keep his eye in.“I just like to see how they operate, honestly,” he said. “Watch how they practice. I can learn different drills. I see things that they’re doing and it just gets me going. I mean, I wake up in July and August and I get the shakes, you know what I mean?“It’s just awesome to hear the (pads) popping and the snap count and see the guys struggling physically, fighting through stuff. It’s just really, really a great time in my life. I spent most of my life doing this and just really honorable to be back here.”Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our NFL Facebook page, subscribe to our talkSPORT End Zone YouTube channel for all the offseason news, interviews and more