Deuce Gruden enters his 10th season in the NFL and eighth with the Silver and Black as a strength and conditioning assistant.
Gruden works extensively with all position groups throughout the roster with a focus on strength training. His responsibilities also include assisting the athletic training staff in transitioning players back from injury into participation and managing performance data for the team's strength and conditioning staff.
In 2024, Gruden's strength training helped produce two Pro Bowlers in DE Maxx Crosby and rookie TE Brock Bowers. Crosby earned his fourth-straight Pro Bowl selection after leading the team with 7.5 sacks and tying for sixth in the league in tackles for loss (17). Bowers established multiple NFL records after recording the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end (1,194) and the most receptions in a single season by a rookie in NFL history (112). Gruden helped the 2024 rookie draft class successfully transition to the NFL as they combined for 66 starts. T DJ Glaze and G Jackson Powers-Johnson each made 14 starts on the offensive line, with Powers-Johnson earned PFWA All-Rookie honors.
In 2023, Gruden helped DE Maxx Crosby earn his third-straight Pro Bowl selection after finishing with career highs in total tackles (90), TFLs (23) and sacks (14.5). His strength training allowed LB Divine Deablo to start a career-high 15 games and finish second on the team with 105 tackles, while his work with the defensive line aided DE Malcolm Koonce, who registered a career-high eight sacks, and DT John Jenkins, who set career highs in starts (17), tackles (61), tackles for loss (four) and passes defensed (four).
In 2022, Gruden saw five Raiders players make the Pro Bowl in WR Davante Adams, DE Maxx Crosby, RB Josh Jacobs, QB Derek Carr and P AJ Cole. He also assisted in the strength development of four undrafted free agents who made the final 53-man roster, tied for the most over the last 10 seasons by the Raiders and the most since 2019.
In 2021, Gruden helped the Raiders finish with a 10-7 record, earning their first postseason berth since 2016. Gruden also saw the Silver and Black produce four Pro Bowlers in P AJ Cole, DE Maxx Crosby, LB Denzel Perry and WR Hunter Renfrow, marking the first career selection for all four players.
Gruden's assistance in the weight room helped the Raiders produce two Pro Bowlers in 2020, as RB Josh Jacobs and TE Darren Waller each earned the nod for the first time in their careers. Waller set a new club record with 107 receptions and posted career highs in receiving yards (1,196) and touchdowns (nine), while Jacobs surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,065 yards on the ground and a career-high 12 touchdowns.
In 2019, Gruden continued his work with implementing the team's strength and conditioning program and saw T Trent Brown and C Rodney Hudson earn Pro Bowl honors, while G Richie Incognito, FB Alec Ingold, Jacobs and Waller were named as alternates. Gruden also saw the 2019 rookie class combine to lead the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns (17), sacks (14.5), yards after the catch (676), rushing yards (1,167), rushing touchdowns (seven) and rushing first downs (60) among their rookie peers. The Raiders rookies also ranked second in receptions (107) and receiving yards (1,112).
During his first season with the Raiders in 2018, Gruden worked with TE Jared Cook as he earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2018. Gruden also helped train Hudson and G/T Kelechi Osemele in 2018, who were named Pro Bowl alternates.
Prior to joining the Raiders, Gruden served as a strength and conditioning assistant with the Washington Redskins for two seasons (2016-17). He was promoted as a full-time strength and conditioning coach during the 2017 offseason after initially joining Washington as a strength and conditioning intern during the 2016 season, a year in which the strength staff helped produce five Pro Bowlers.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Gruden played an integral role in training athletes at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando for Jon Gruden's QB Camp, where he led workouts for college players preparing to participate in the NFL Combine.
PERSONAL: Native of Tampa, Fla. …Earned a master's degree from A.T. Still University in Kinesiology with a focus in corrective exercise…Certified in USA weightlifting coaching and as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist…A competitive powerlifter who won gold at the 2017 International Powerlifting Federation's World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Belarus…Attended Lafayette University where he earned a degree in biology, while also playing running back for the Leopards from 2012-15.
