Gruden in the Mix?

AP reports that Gruden and Pettrino are possible candidates. Sure they're both on the list of 20, but are they actually possibilities? In Gruden's case consider the fact that he was identified as an option when Tressel was hired at OSU:

Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden joined Oregon’s Mike Bellotti in dropping out of contention, following in the footsteps of Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Stanford’s Tyrone Willingham and Pittsburgh’s Walt Harris. Ohio State assistant head coach Fred Pagac and former OSU and NFL linebacker Chris Spielman interviewed for the job, but neither received a call-back.

Does Jeff Backus quotes below sound more like Les Miles or Joh Gruden:

Backus, on his favorite Carr story:"I have a lot of things, but more than anything, just the guy. He’s a stand-up guy through and through. I love the guy. He gave me a chance to have somebody to look up to every day. I was 1,000 miles away from my dad. My parents were in Atlanta, Ga. So he gave me somebody to look up to, to follow, to learn what it takes to succeed in this business and life. That’s one of the greatest things a Michigan player experiences when they’re playing for Lloyd. It’s not just X’s and O’s and football. I mean, he’s teaching you how to live life and live life the right way every day. I don’t think he gets enough credit for that.

Backus, on the next coach: No. 1 thing, integrity. Have strong moral beliefs and stand behind them. Run the program the right way, just like Lloyd and Bo did. Just carry on the tradition. I’m not saying he can’t freshen things up, but the integrity they had, the moral standards that they had, was undeniable. They carried it throughout the way they handled their job and the way they lived their lives. I think that’s so important, because that’s the tradition of Michigan football, and that’s a big part of the tradition there. He might have lost his last game, but you can never take away the type of man he is, and that’s more important than any football game.

Do Wheatley's comments regarding Gruden sound more like Lloyd or Miles:

"I'm not going to have any magic; I'm no guru like the guy with the Lakers," Wheatley said, referring to Phil Jackson. "I don't have any Zen books. But what I do know is coaches."

Wheatley was more than just a player who carried the ball. He was a student -- a student of the game and a student of coaches like Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden.

"I've been watching coaches for 20 years," he said. "I've been watching motivational styles. I kept track of what worked for me and what worked for other players.

"The biggest thing is to get them to believe in themselves."

That was his challenge after taking over a team that never enjoyed a single victory last season.

"You've got to get them to trust you," Wheatley said. "If you have the experience, they will trust that. I speak a bunch of mumbo jumbo and they'll do it if they think it works.

"I tell them we've got to do things right. Gruden used to say: 'Do it my way because it's my way. It's not the right way because it's my way. It's the right way because it's right.' "

Link here. This from my earlier post 10/14.

I'm not saying it's going to be Gruden. I think it'll be Miles. Hell, I think it already is Miles. But, maybe, just maybe Gruden is on the short go to list. And if so, I for one am in favor.