Joey Gruden continues family tradition as coach with Stetson men’s basketball

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

His last name has been synonymous with high-level coaching for decades, but Joey Gruden is putting a twist on the family business.

When the Stetson men’s basketball team makes its NCAA Tournament debut on Friday against defending champion UConn, the Hatters will do so with Gruden — the son of former NFL coach Jay Gruden and nephew of Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden — on their bench as a 29-year-old assistant.

“I was fortunate to grow up around it,” Joey said of being immersed in sports from a young age. “I’d go to a ton of my dad’s practices and games, be in the locker room and hear his speeches. Coaching is coaching. At the end of the day, it’s different sports, different X’s and O’s, but my biggest takeaway from my dad and obviously my uncle is just the relationships they build, how they command a locker room, the leadership techniques, just how personable they are with their players and staff.”

Stetson is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in its 53 years of Division I basketball, but Gruden is doing so for the fifth time, having gone three times as a walk-on guard at Dayton and once as a graduate assistant coach at Louisville.

Gruden’s path to coaching started out much like those of his father and uncle: He enrolled at Dayton, where Jon Gruden once played quarterback, as a football walk-on. It took only one practice for Joey to decide that football wasn’t the path for him, and he shifted his focus to making the basketball team as a walk-on. He missed the cut his freshman year but then spent a year training and tried out again as a sophomore, conceding he would transfer to a smaller school if he couldn’t make the team.

He made the team, playing sparingly but relishing his role and learning from coach Archie Miller, who saw a smart kid who understood the intensity and demands of coaching from his life’s experiences.

“The first thing is the bloodlines,” said Miller,…

Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/joey-gruden-continues-family-tradition-as-coach-with-stetson-mens-basketball

Author :

Publish date : 2024-03-21 15:10:46

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.