Jon Gruden

Monday Night Football Analyst

Former Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden joined ESPN in 2009 as an analyst for Monday Night Football, where he works alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski. Gruden, who contributes analysis throughout the year on ESPN Radio and other platforms, will also be part of ESPN’s 2010 Pro Bowl telecast and Super Bowl and NFL Draft coverage.

The dynamic, outspoken and often fiery Gruden was a highly successful NFL head coach for 11 seasons with the Oakland Raiders (1998-2001) and most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-08). He compiled a career record of 100-85 and led his teams to five division titles. Gruden’s best season was 2002 when the Buccaneers finished the regular season 12-4 and captured the Super Bowl XXXVII title with a 48-21 victory over the Raiders, the team Gruden had coached just one season earlier. At the time, the championship made then 38-year-old Gruden the youngest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl.

Gruden began his NFL coaching career in 1990 when Mike Holmgren, then offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, hired him as an assistant in charge of quality control. Gruden quickly ascended through the ranks by learning the famed West Coast offense pioneered by longtime 49ers coach Bill Walsh. When Holmgren left the 49ers to become head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1992, he named Gruden the Packers’ wide receivers coach. After three seasons in Green Bay, Gruden moved on to become the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator under head coach Ray Rhodes. In 1998, Gruden was chosen by Oakland owner and general manager Al Davis to be the Raiders' new head coach at the age of 34.

A native of Sandusky, Ohio, Gruden graduated from the University of Dayton in 1985 with a degree in communications. He was a back-up quarterback and three-year letter-winner for the Flyers. After graduation, he started his career as a graduate assistant on Johnny Majors’ staff at the University of Tennessee in 1986. He also served as the quarterback coach at Southeast Missouri State (1987-88), and the wide receivers coach at both Pacific (1989) and Pittsburgh (1991) in the college ranks.

Gruden grew up in a football family. His father, Jim, served as an assistant at Notre Dame in the late 1970s and later with the Buccaneers, among his 38 seasons of collegiate and professional experience. Also, his brother Jay served as an offensive assistant coach with the Bucs for seven seasons and has spent 19 seasons in the Arena Football League as both an ArenaBowl-winning player and coach.

Gruden was named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” in 2001 and he was the first non-player ever invited by the Walt Disney Co. to star in its popular post-Super Bowl “What’s Next?” commercial (with quarterback Brad Johnson) after leading the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in 2003. The recipient of the 2002 Coach of the Year honor at the ESPY Awards, Gruden was also recognized as Professional Coach of the Year at the 37th Victor Awards in 2003. He wrote the book Do You Love Football?! Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep with longtime NFL writer Vic Carucci.

Before joining ESPN, Gruden worked as a guest analyst with the NFL Network during the 2009 NFL Draft and Scouting Combine. During the summer of 2009, he also participated in the inaugural NFL-USO Coaches Tour with Tom Coughlin, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, and John Harbaugh on a trip to meet and greet U.S. service members over several days in the Persian Gulf region.

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