Jon Gruden Is 'Fired Up' For NFL Announcing Opportunity

Former Super Bowl head coach and Monday Night Football announcer Jon Gruden is slated to make his return to the broadcast booth this preseason as the play-by-play man for a Tampa Bay Buccaneers preseason game. To say that he's excited for the opportunity might be an understatement.

Appearing on 95.7 WDAE, Gruden spoke about the opportunity to work alongside his former star cornerback Ronde Barber in the broadcast booth. He said he was "fired up" for the opportunity after so many years away and is still studying football constantly.

“I was fired up,” Gruden said. “I had a lot of fun doing it for nine years. I was very fortunate on Monday Night Football, especially the years with Tirico. We had a lot of fun. We took every game like it was a Super Bowl. Took it very seriously, had a lot of fun. So I enjoy the profession. And at this point in my life, I still study football all the time. I’m still a big fan of the Bucs. I live right down the street. I’m really excited about it.”

While NFL teams may still be reluctant to hire Gruden as a coach as his lawsuit against the league continues, the former Super Bowl winner has said that his new focus is on doing play-by-play for the foreseeable future.

Gruden and the Bucs

Gruden joined the Buccaneers in 2002 and immediately turned the once-hapless team into a champion, taking down the Oakland Raiders (his former team) in Super Bowl XXXVII for the franchise’s first-ever title.

Though he was fired after a disappointing 2008 season, he was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor (then removed in 2021 before being reinstated last year).

Barber was a core member of the Bucs at the time, earning All-Pro honors that season and putting on a superb playoff performance, notching two interceptions, a pick-six and 10 passes defended in their three postseason games. He would go on to play all 16 of his NFL seasons with the Buccaneers, setting multiple records as a cornerback en route to Hall of Fame induction in 2023.