In a Career-Obsessed Sport, John Gruden Sounds Content

One of the assumptions we make in hockey is that everyone is always trying to climb the ladder. Assistant coaches want to become head coaches. AHL coaches want NHL jobs. NHL assistants want NHL benches of their own. The sport is built around movement, promotion, and the next opportunity.

The Toronto Marlies’ John Gruden loves being a coach, but perhaps not at the NHL level.

That’s why John Gruden’s recent comments caught my attention. With Craig Berube no longer behind the Maple Leafs’ bench, Gruden was asked the obvious question. How prepared does he feel to become an NHL head coach one day?

The expected answer would have been easy enough. Most coaches say some version of, “I’m focused on my current job, but coaching in the NHL is a goal.” It’s a familiar hockey answer. Ambitious, respectful, and noncommittal all at once.

Gruden went somewhere else. “That is not part of my aspiration right now.”

Related: If John Tortorella Is the Answer, What Exactly Is the Question?

Why is Gruden's answer so unusual?

It was such an unusual answer that I haven’t forgotten it. Maybe he’s simply saying the right thing during a playoff run. Coaches are careful with their words. But when you read the rest of his comments, a pattern begins to emerge.

Every question gets redirected back to the team. Craig Berube’s dismissal? That’s too bad, he was a good guy. But the focus was to beat the Cleveland Monsters. [And they did.]

The Maple Leafs’ coaching vacancy? His focus was on the players. The new general manager? Nice text messages, but his focus is on preparing for the next game.

Again and again, Gruden pulled the conversation back to the group in front of him.

Gruden was not interested at all in self-promotion.

What struck me most was how little self-promotion there was in any of it. The Marlies are deep in the playoffs. They now sit two games ahead of the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Final, having won both road games. Young players continue to develop. Veterans seem invested. The atmosphere around the team appears healthy.

If Gruden wanted to subtly campaign for a bigger opportunity, nobody would blame him. Instead, he talked about player energy, preparation, physical play, and making sure the team was ready for Cleveland’s systems. He sounds less like someone managing a career and more like someone teaching a class.

That may be one of the reasons he has been successful.

Some head coaches view the American Hockey League as a stepping stone to a bigger job.

There are coaches who view the AHL as a waiting room. There are others who embrace the work of development, building habits, and helping players become professionals. Gruden sounds very much like the latter.

Maybe one day he will coach in the NHL. Maybe he won’t. But there was something refreshing about hearing a coach answer a question about the future by talking about the present.

In a profession where everyone is assumed to be chasing the next rung on the ladder, perhaps part of John Gruden’s strength is that he’s fully invested in the one he’s standing on.