Jon Gruden was back in a broadcast booth Saturday night, and for the first time since 2018, the former coach and longtime TV analyst was calling a football game again.
The setting was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ preseason matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, a 16-15 Bucs win, and Gruden’s return came alongside Ronde Barber on WFLA-TV. It was an unusual setup from the start, with Chris Myers unavailable because he was scheduled to work the IndyCar Freedom 250 for Fox. Myers normally handles play-by-play for Tampa Bay’s preseason games, with Barber on color.
That absence left the broadcast without the usual play-by-play structure, and Gruden wound up back in the role he knew best from his ESPN days as the analyst beside the main voice. Barber handled much of the game management from the booth, including down-and-distance and the rhythm in and out of breaks. The result was loose and a little uneven, but also closer to a two-man commentary show than a traditional radio-style telecast.
Gruden had already hinted that the pairing might offer something different. Earlier this week, he said on “The Ronde Barber Show,” “You never know.
This concept could be a game-changer in the broadcast booth,” Gruden said on “The Ronde Barber Show” earlier this week. “I mean, there’s been a conventional way.
I sat up there for nine years and did it. (Play-by-play announcer) Mike Tirico, there was a cadence … But I think as long as we’re on the same page, we love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We’re going to try to really educate the fans on some of the position battles, just the excitement of opening day in our stadium.”
The arrangement prompted some confusion before kickoff, since Gruden was filling in for Myers and some expected that to mean a play-by-play debut. At an early August news conference, he was even asked about that possibility and mentioned Frank Gifford as one of his favorite play-by-play announcers growing up. Gifford, of course, was known for being able to handle either side of the booth.
Once the game started, though, it was clear Gruden was still operating as an analyst. Barber shouldered the heavier load, and after the game he admitted the week had been a little more hectic than usual.
“My week wasn’t as calm as it normally is,” Barber said after the game. “Usually, I let Chris do all of the heavy lifting.
I was like, ‘We got heavy lifting to do.’ But we made it through.”
Gruden’s return to the booth brought him back to familiar territory. After coaching the Raiders and Buccaneers across successful stretches from the late 1990s through the late 2000s, he joined Monday Night Football as a color analyst, replacing Tony Kornheiser. His delivery and presence made him a major ESPN draw, and he eventually became the network’s highest-paid personality.
“I had a lot of fun doing it for nine years,” Gruden said at the early August news conference. “I was very fortunate on ‘Monday Night Football,’ especially the years with Tirico.
We had a lot of fun, and we took every game like it was the Super Bowl. We took it very seriously and had a lot of fun.”
Gruden returned to coaching in 2018 after signing a 10-year deal with the Raiders, but his relationship with the NFL later unraveled in the fall of 2021 after racist, homophobic and sexist emails he had sent surfaced during the league’s investigation into the Washington Commanders. He resigned after the emails became public. The Buccaneers removed him from their Ring of Honor, then later put him back in.
A month after stepping down, Gruden filed suit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, claiming the league leaked the emails “through a malicious and orchestrated campaign” aimed at ruining his reputation. That case is still active in Nevada, and Clark County District Judge Joe Hardy recently criticized the pace of Gruden’s side in the discovery process.
“I remain concerned with Gruden’s side’s delays and lack of cooperation, lack of compliance with the rules,” Hardy said on Aug. 10, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Gruden, who now works for Barstool Sports and appears across several of its shows, has a jury trial scheduled to begin May 24, 2027.
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Bucs Helped Create A Wild Harrison Butker Moment That Wont Count
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Buccaneers Fringe Roster Battle Got A Lot More Intense Vs Chiefs
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Yaya Diaby flashed, and Fordham, David Walker and Nelson all had moments that helped their standing, while Hurst and Foerner were among the players whose mistakes showed how thin the margin can be in games like this. In a contest built around job interviews more than final scores, those kinds of snaps can matter a lot, and the second half should tell Tampa Bay even more about who is separating from the pack. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Preseason Game Sparked An NFL Take Fans Will Hate
Harrison Butkers latest showcase came in a preseason game against the Buccaneers, where the Chiefs kicker launched a 69-yard field goal that would have shattered the NFLs official regular-season mark. It did not count in the record book because of the setting, but it was still the kind of kick that reminds everyone how far the position has evolved and how little room there is for error when a specialist can turn a casual-looking snap into a near midfield celebration.
The reaction afterward was almost as sharp as the kick itself, with NFL analyst Joe Schad publicly floating the idea that the league competition committee should consider narrowing the goal posts. For Tampa Bay, it was the sort of offseason headline that lands with extra sting because it came against their own defense and turned a routine preseason snap into a broader debate about where kicking is headed next. [Read more 🡒]