Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden at one point was a serious candidate to take over as the head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not long after Gruden decided to stay with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Jaguars presumably selected their "backup plan" in Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. In the mean time the Bengals awarded Gruden with a three-year contract extension worth $3.6 million -- a deal similar to Mike Zimmer in 2010, when Cincinnati's defensive coordinator was drawing interest for open head coaching positions.
However according to Dan Pompei of the National Football Post, having a new contract and toys like Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham may not have been the biggest reason for Gruden's decision to stay in Cincinnati.
Jay Gruden had excellent reasons for returning to Cincy. The new contract helped, as did the prospect of coaching Andy Dalton and A.J. Green another year. So did the fact that he should be in even greater demand as a head coach one year from now. But the best reason? His son will be a senior in high school next year and Gruden did not want to move him for two straight years.
There's a certain level of excitement for Cincinnati's offense next year. After finishing with the league's 20th offense and 18th in scoring, Gruden will have an entire offseason to work with his players, unlike last year where the NFL lockout prevented communication between the coaches and players.