Jan. 23, 2003

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Former Southeast Missouri State University assistant football coach Jon Gruden is currently the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who face Gruden's former team, the Oakland Raiders, in Sunday's Super Bowl.

Gruden, who is in his first year as coach at Tampa Bay, coached at Southeast in 1988 when he served as quarterbacks coach under head coach Bill Maskill. The 1988 Indians finished 6-4 and after the season, Gruden accepted a job at Pacific University.

The job at Southeast was Gruden's first full time coaching job. He was a graduate assistant for two years at Louisville before joining the staff at Southeast.

In an ironic twist, Oakland is coached by Bill Callahan, a former assistant coach at Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Southeast's biggest and longest football rival.