Jon Gruden may be far from the NFL sidelines, but he’s making it clear he isn’t finished trying to get back into the game.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders head coach said on the Ira Kaufman Podcast that he wants another shot at broadcasting, specifically the play-by-play side. Gruden, who spent nine years in the booth, pointed to a familiar path when he explained the kind of role he’d like next.
“I was a broadcaster for nine years,” Gruden said, per JoeBucsFan. “I want to be play-by-play.
You know, Frank Gifford, he transitioned into the play-by-play role. I would like to transition.
I had nine years of watching these guys, [Mike] Tirico. And I’d like to give that a shot.”
That’s a notable shift in focus for Gruden, who has spent the past several years bouncing through consulting work and, most recently, joining Barstool Sports as a media personality covering the NFL. He’s remained around the league in some form, but not in the way he once was.
Gruden’s coaching path is a much tougher one to imagine right now. He stepped down from his second stint with the Raiders in 2021 after emails he wrote from 2011-18 containing misogynistic, racist and homophobic language surfaced. He also has an ongoing lawsuit against the NFL tied to those email leaks, with trial set to begin in May 2027.
Broadcasting, though, may be the cleaner route back. Gruden worked as an ESPN broadcaster from 2009-17, serving as a color analyst and hosting Jon Gruden's QB Camp. And there are signs that a return to the booth could already be taking shape.
FOX Sports reporter Greg Auman reported that Gruden is expected to be on the call with Ronde Barber for Tampa Bay’s preseason home game against the Chiefs on Aug. 22 on @WFLA.
Just to add to this: Jon Gruden is expected to return to the booth and work with Ronde Barber for Bucs’ preseason home game against the Chiefs on Aug. 22 on @WFLA. https://t.co/tdOf6GPMt9
If that assignment goes smoothly, it could open the door to more opportunities with a bigger network. Gruden’s standing has improved since he joined Barstool Sports, and he was recently reinstated into Tampa Bay’s Ring of Honor, but any network interested in bringing him back would still have to be comfortable with his past.
For now, he’s still with Barstool Sports, and he’ll have a close eye on the Buccaneers as they head toward training camp on July 28.
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What makes the story linger for Tampa Bay is how familiar it feels. Mayfield has already lived through a season like this before, when injuries helped drag down his play with Cleveland, and the Netflix footage adds another layer to a year that already looked uneven from the outside. The show underscores just how much he was dealing with while trying to hold the offense together, and it leaves one obvious question hanging over the whole season: how much of the late-year drop-off was really about performance, and how much was about simply trying to survive it? [Read more 🡒]