The Raiders hired Jon Gruden and the Jaguars hired Urban Meyer using the same flawed thinking that sometimes causes mania over tech stocks: with no regard for underlying value or the marketplace. Gruden, Meyer, Tesla—it’s all the same story. When the buyer is convinced the future depends on them, price does not matter.
The other 30 NFL coaches were not hired this way. Bill Belichick and Andy Reid had been fired from their last head-coaching jobs. John Harbaugh was a special teams coach who wondered whether he would ever get his shot. Sean Payton had been demoted as the Giants’ play-caller (how absurd does that sound now?