Jon Gruden staying with ESPN

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

Jon Gruden will remain in the ESPN "Monday Night Football" broadcast booth for another five seasons.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders coach agreed to an exclusive contract with ESPN that begins in September 2012.

Gruden

"I said I want to get good at this," Gruden said while preparing for the prime-time game at the New Jersey Meadowlands between the Dolphins and Jets. "I was serious about this from the day I started it and I am serious about wanting to get good at it.

"I spent 26 or 27 years in coaching, 18 of them in the NFL. I want to focus on this and get better every day."

Gruden has earned two Sports Emmy Award nominations for his work in the "Monday Night Football" booth, where he is joined by play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski.

"This is my team," Gruden said. "I loved doing this with these guys, keeping me close to the game. We have a lot of fun and hey, we love football."

The 48-year-old Gruden is the winningest coach in Buccaneers history (60-57) and coached the team to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII, where Tampa Bay defeated the Raiders, his former team.

"Jon is a rare individual who has been successful at everything he has done, going from one of the youngest coaches to win a Super Bowl to reinventing himself with this new broadcasting career in his 40s," Gruden's agent, Bob LaMonte, said in a statement.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print