At 3-0, the Raiders are the only undefeated team left in the AFC. The Chargers, who also play in the AFC West, are 2-1.
“I met (Gruden) once,” Staley told reporters last week. “I don’t know him well. We both went to the same school. I know a lot of people who have worked with him or work for him.”
Staley attended UD from 2001-04 and led Dayton to a 16-5 record in two seasons (2003-04) as the starting quarterback. He then transferred to Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., where he played his final season with his twin brother Jason.
The Chargers named Staley the head coach in January. He served as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams last season.
Gruden is a a 1986 UD graduate. He was a three-year letterwinner at Dayton (1983-85) and, as a senior, won the Lt. Andy Zulli Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the “senior football player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship and character.”
This is Gruden’s 15th season as a NFL head coach. He coached the Raiders his first four seasons (1998-2001) and then spent seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-08), winning Super XXXVII in 2003. After nine seasons in the broadcast booth, he returned to coaching and to the Raiders in 2018. He has a career record of 227-117.
Although Gruden was a backup quarterback to Phil Nussman, Todd Morris and Kevin Wilhelm during his days at Dayton, he told the Dayton Daily News in 1998 he learned to win during his college years.
“I got a real respect for football there,” Gruden said. “I learned how to prepare, how to get that feeling of what it’s like to win. It was just a great experience for me as a student-athlete.
“I was coached by good people and good coaches. I just wasn’t good enough. I was a ham-and-egger. We got a lot of leads in a lot of games because we were a good team, and I got to play a little bit because of that. When they needed me, I was there. I loved UD.”
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