Jon Gruden, who won Super Bowl XXXVII as Tampa Bay’s head coach, will be in the broadcast booth as the play-by-play announcer for the Bucs’ second preseason game against the Chiefs on Aug. 22.
He spoke with local Buccaneers media on Thursday, saying he’s “fired up” for the gig.
“We’ve got a great young team here, we’ve added some players,” Gruden said in his press conference. “And to be up there with Ronde Barber for three-and-a-half hours, God knows what’s going to happen. But we’re going to have fun. We’re going to celebrate the Bucs and hopefully kick off what’s going to be what’s going to be a really special season.”
Gruden noted he’s planning for the broadcast to be a lot more about Barber than himself.
“I’ve heard I’m doing play-by-play, but I don’t know if we’ve solved anything,” Gruden said. “It’s going to be Ronde’s show. He’s the star. I’m just — we’re going to have a production meeting, I know, on August 17 and we’re going to finalize the cadence. But I’m excited. I’m a little bit nervous. And as always, really fired up for football season — especially the Buccaneers.”
Gruden said he’s missed the camaraderie of being around a broadcast team, which he got used to while working on Monday Night Football. He left the booth to come back to coaching with the Raiders in 2018.
“I had a lot of fun doing it for nine years,” Gruden said. “I was very fortunate, on Monday Night Football, especially the years with [Mike] Tirico. We had a lot of fun. We took every game like it was the Super Bowl — we took it very seriously, had a lot of fun. So, I enjoyed the profession. And at this point in my life, I still study football all the time, I’m still a big fan of the Bucs. I live right down the street. So, I’m really excited about it.”