Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is denying that his contract with the team is worth as much as the previously reported nine figures over 10 years.

He recently said he intends to earn whatever his salary may be, and he won’t take the Raiders’ money if he can’t turn them into a winner.

Though he wouldn’t expand on the true value of his contract, how the rumored number came to be, or why he allowed it to persist as truth for so long, the former broadcaster insisted he’s just following his passion and today’s lofty contract figures may be a product of the current NFL landscape.

“I never got into coaching for the money. I got into coaching because I wanted to be a quarterback coach. What the salary cap has become, what free agency has become – it’s amazing,” Gruden said.

Maybe Gruden doesn’t want to be looked at like a rich man, but that’s exactly what he is. He’s earned it though, there are only a handful of coaches who have their celebrity as big as their job.