Legendary broadcaster and former Super Bowl Champion head coach Jon Gruden wants to get back in the booth.
Gruden spent 10 years in the broadcast booth calling Monday Night Football games for ESPN as a color commentator. Gruden, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, told a Bucs podcast this week that he wants to become a play-by-play announcer. It was confirmed Tuesday that Gruden will have his first play-by-play spot with the team next month.
Gruden is a member of the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor. During a discussion on “The Ira Kaufman Podcast” on Monday, Gruden was asked by the hosts which figures in team history he would like to be added to the Ring of Honor; one of the suggestions proffered was Gene Deckerhoff, who has been the voice of the Bucs since 1989. Deckerhoff announced his retirement after the 2025 season, and Gruden expressed his interest in taking over Deckerhoff’s role.
“I was a broadcaster for nine years, hell’s bells,” Gruden said. “I want to be play-by-play. You know, [former NFL great and Monday Night Football commentator] Frank Gifford, he transitioned into the play-by-play role. I would like to transition. I had nine years of watching these guys, [former ESPN Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer Mike] Tirico. And I’d like to give that a shot, man.”
Indeed, for all ten of his seasons at ESPN, Gruden spent his Monday nights working side by side with Tirico (and, from 2009–2011, former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski). Gruden also worked as an analyst for ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage and some college bowl games.
Gruden also hosted his own show on the network called “Gruden’s QB camp,” where he would sit down with top quarterback prospects in each year’s draft for an in-depth whiteboard and film session. The show ran for seven seasons.
Gruden returned to coaching in 2018 with the Oakland-turned-Las Vegas Raiders, but poor performance coupled with his role in the Washington Football Team’s email scandal in 2021 forced him into retirement.
Gruden has since revitalized his career as an analyst with Barstool Sports. He has an active YouTube channel where he breaks down game film and hosts a podcast of his own called “Gruden Goes Long,” where he interviews current and former stars of the game at both the college and professional levels.
Barstool also brought back his quarterback show as “Gruden’s QB Class” in 2026. He hosted New York Giants QB Jaxson Dart last season, as well as late-round 2025 prospects Quinn Ewers, Kyle McCord, Riley Leonard, and Seth Henigan. In 2026, he hosted top QB prospects Garrett Nussmeier, Carson Beck, Ty Simpson, Taylen Green, and Sawyer Robertson.
After his appearance on the podcast, Kaufman announced in an interview on a Tampa-area radio station that Gruden had already secured a spot.
“In about a month, Jon Gruden will be doing play-by-play on an NFL game,” Kaufman told WDAE’s Rock Riley on Tuesday. “He’s not fooling around about this stuff.”
Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman confirmed Kaufman’s announcement and added details. Gruden and Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Ronde Barber—who played under Gruden as a member of the Bucs—are expected to call the team’s second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22, Auman said in a July 15 post on X.
Gruden separately opined on the state of NFL analysis and the saturated market in the era of podcasts and social media.
“There’s an analyst on every corner now. I mean, they’re everywhere. Everybody’s got a podcast, everybody has social media account, some have multiple. You’ve got to be careful who you listen to, who you trust, what information is true and what is not true,” he said.
“Now you’ve got artificial intelligence, you don’t even know what to believe sometimes. But to find somebody who’s put the time in, seen it with your own two eyes, and has their own opinion, those are the guys that I really like to listen to and be around.”
