Former Bucs Super Bowl winning head coach and Ring of Honor member Jon Gruden has been in the spotlight more and more in recent years. He has a very popular YouTube channel covering all things football that has been highlighted even more after signing on with Barstool Sports a couple of seasons ago.

It’s been no secret that Gruden wants to be closer to the game again, whether that be coaching once more or getting back into the booth as a broadcaster. As it turns out, Jon Gruden is apparently going to get that opportunity to call a game one more time.

Gruden was famously part of the Monday Night Football broadcast as a color commentator for nine seasons from 2009 to 2017 before leaving to take the Raiders’ head coaching job.

Former Bucs HC Jon Gruden – Photo by: USA Today

Jon Gruden Returns To The Booth For A Bucs Game In A New Capacity

According to several reports, Gruden is returning to the booth for a Buccaneers preseason game, but this time as the play-by-play broadcaster, not just the color commentator. There was a series of timelines and reports where this news came about, so let’s go through it.

This all started with an interview that Gruden did with long-time Buccaneers reporter Ira Kaufman on his show the Ira Kaufman Podcast. That’s where Gruden revealed that he wanted to be on a broadcast again.

“I was a broadcaster for nine years,” Gruden said. “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.”

Former Bucs HC Jon Gruden – Photo by: USA Today

Following that, Kaufman was on with Rock Riley on 95.7 WDAE as Riley was hosting The Drive With TKras where he gave the information that Gruden was in fact going to be in the booth coming up in a month with the Buccaneers preseason.

“In about a month Jon Gruden will be doing play-by-play on an NFL game,” Kauffman said. “He’s not fooling around about this stuff. Now, he worked with [Mike] Tirico, who’s about the best in the business.”

The last part of his revel comes from Greg Auman of Fox Sports, who revealed that Gruden will be doing the play-by-play alongside his former player Rondé Barber, as the color commentator  for Tampa Bay’s preseason game against the Chiefs on August 22nd. It is the only home game that the Buccaneers have during the preseason with their first game at the Jets and last game at the Jaguars.

Each preseason game will be broadcasted on News Channel 8 WFLA, which is also where the Bucs Bonus Show that features Pewter Report often can be found. Typically Chris Myers is on the call with Barber, but we’ll get to see Gruden in this role in Week 2 of the preseason.

While Gruden hasn’t done play-by-play in an official NFL game, his YouTube channel and work with Barstool has given him opportunities to be on several different broadcasts. With his channel – @JonGrudenBarstool – he has worked with several quarterback prospects going into the draft such as first-round picks Jaxson Dart from a season ago and Ty Simpson in the latest draft, while also getting to interview well known players such as Charles Woodson, Bo Jackson, Eli Manning and Tampa Bay legend Lavonte David.

With Barstool Sports, the company is constantly running different entertaining events. Whether it be hosting live shows Bowl or having employees participate in certain athletic competitions like a flag football game at the Super Bowl, Gruden has had the opportunity to be on those episodes as well, primarily with a headset as another broadcaster. It’s not exactly the same as what he was doing on Monday Night Football, but it does give him more reps in the role he wants to be in.

Former Bucs HC Jon Gruden – Photo by: USA Today

Gruden was the Buccaneers head coach  for seven years, winning Super Bowl 37, the first in franchise history in his debut season in Tampa Bay in 2002. The chance to call games for the team in this capacity at a preseason game still gives him close ties to the team.