Jon Gruden Not So Interested In Coaching Again, Resigns With ESPN

Monday, November 16, 2009


I honestly thought that Jon Gruden would stay with MNF for one year, and then roll out to a team in need of a head coach (*ahem* Redskins!), but that's definitely not the case. Gruden has signed a multi-year deal to stay with the network....

Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden, who joined ESPN in May as a Monday Night Football analyst, has agreed to an exclusive multi-year agreement with the company. Gruden has made a commitment to remain with ESPN.

In addition to his MNF role alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski, Gruden will appear on ESPN’s NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage, among other platforms, and he will call the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl in South Florida on January 31, 2010. Gruden will serve as an analyst for ESPN Radio’s 2010 Rose Bowl and Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game broadcasts, where he will team with Tirico, and he will be part of SportsCenter coverage leading up to the ESPN on ABC telecasts of both games.

"Working with Mike, Jaws and our entire Monday Night Football team is the most fun I have had in years, and I am fired up to make this long-term commitment to ESPN," said Gruden. “Monday Night Football is special and I look forward to remaining a part of it and continuing to call these great games.”
While there's no mention of a "coaching clause", there's no reason to believe he'd re-sign if he wanted to immediately return to coaching. I'm still conflicted on how I feel about him as an announcer, but the move makes sense for ESPN. Even though there are times when he goes overboard with emotion and analogies, he's still better than Kornheiser.

9 Comments:

This is a big time decision by a big time guy who hopes to remain with a big time network for a big time length of time.

/Gruden on MNF'd.

Justin F. said...
Nov 16, 2009, 12:20:00 PM  

Confusing headline. I didn't look very closely and I thought it said he quit MNF.

J.J. said...
Nov 16, 2009, 12:50:00 PM  

The thing that kills me about the MNF crew is everything is so great. This coach is great, the play is great, the food is great.

That Browns game should be a challenge to find great things. Good luck with that.

FightingPike said...
Nov 16, 2009, 1:07:00 PM  

Gruden leads the MNF booth in grit!!!

GMoney said...
Nov 16, 2009, 1:28:00 PM  

Gruden has not been better than TK.

JFreak said...
Nov 16, 2009, 1:56:00 PM  

Also: Two posts in one day, AA? You must be exhausted. Go home and take a nap.

JFreak said...
Nov 16, 2009, 1:57:00 PM  

Ugh. Awful. Unless that contract has a NO YELLING clause... I hate it.

MNF booth sucks. They've ruined good games why the senseless YELLING about how GREAT so-and-so's whole name is.

Al said...
Nov 16, 2009, 3:10:00 PM  

I'll bet Jon Gruden morphs into the best analyst among his peers -- possibly eventually exceeding John Madden. I however doubt if any announcing team will ever equal "Dandy" Don Meredith & Howard Cosell.
There were instances in the Cleveland-Baltimore game last night that were brilliant-really fun listening to Gruden.

Unknown said...
Nov 17, 2009, 10:54:00 AM  

resign vs. re-sign

most confusing mix-up in sports terminology.

Anonymous said...
Nov 17, 2009, 1:14:00 PM  

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