November 28th, 2012 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
WREG News Channel 3 in Tennessee is reporting that the University of Tennessee may be landing former Raiders and Bucs head coach Jon Gruden.
Ok, so why would this story have anything to do with the Browns?
The station is reporting that Gruden has a contract offer in hand, but that part of the offer is the coach getting a piece of the Browns, who were recently bought by Jimmy Haslam III, one of UT’s biggest boosters.
Early Wednesday the Browns denied the story in a statement sent out by Neal Gulkis, Vice President of Media Relations.
“Jimmy Haslam has no involvement in the University of Tennessee head coaching search, and the report that Jon Gruden would potentially have an ownership stake in the Browns is completely erroneous.”
Jim Haslam played on Tennessee’s national championship teams in the early 1950s.
The station also reports that the NFL is looking into the conflict of owning part of one team while getting money from another.
If NFL ownership is included in Gruden’s deal, it would have to be tailored to conform with NCAA rules.
For now though, the Browns say the report is false.
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