Gruden taking over for Kornheiser on MNF

[HoustonFrog]

Nice. This is an upgrade just in print.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4174469

Jon Gruden intends to coach again, but until that day, the man known throughout the NFL as "Chucky" will get to sharpen his teeth in ESPN's "Monday Night Football" booth.

"This is a tremendous opportunity and I am very excited to be associated with ESPN and Monday Night Football," Gruden said in a statement released by ESPN. "I grew up a fan of Monday Night Football, and whether I've coached on Monday night or watched, I've hardly missed a game all these years.

"To join Mike and Jaws in the booth and to work alongside this top-notch team is going to be a real thrill."

[drewmar74]

I like this.

One question though...

Is a 7 second delay actually going to be long enough?

[BigBull17]

Should be fun to watch. I also like him not getting a job, because if we do regress, I want him avaliable as a potential canidate. But, that aint happening.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by BigBull17

Should be fun to watch. I also like him not getting a job, because if we do regress, I want him avaliable as a potential canidate. But, that aint happening.

No freaking way do I want Gruden as a candidate for a Texans job. That guy is way to QB happy for my tastes.

This is a great move though for MNF. Sweet!! No more Kornhole on my tv anymore. I freaking hate that guy. He's by far the most annoying analyst on tv in my opinion, and I have always failed to see what he brings in any way.

[DiehardChris]

This is good news. I actually don't mind TK on PTI - but as analyst, he's worse than Dennis Miller. I'm also not a huge Mike Tirico guy, but he does okay. Jaws IMO is the best part of that team. I think he's great during games and in the studio for the NFL shows.

Gruden's choice comes as kind of a surprise, but I'll take anyone but TK on MNF. Addition by subtraction.

(Really, I think one of the big problems with the crew is that they insist on having three people. There's no sport that needs three people in the booth. That's ridiculous.)

[DiehardChris]

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

No freaking way do I want Gruden as a candidate for a Texans job. That guy is way to QB happy for my tastes.

This is a great move though for MNF. Sweet!! No more Kornhole on my tv anymore. I freaking hate that guy. He's by far the most annoying analyst on tv in my opinion, and I have always failed to see what he brings in any way.

Agree on Gruden. I like him and he's a fun coach to watch, but I don't want him near the Texans. I love his fire and intensity, but the bottom line is - his players in TB hated him and eventually that leads to players not playing as hard as they should. I don't think his personality would mesh well with our current players.

[Texaninlild]

Kornholio is no more Bryant Gumbel might of been an improvement.....uh I take that back. Why would someone say we would be in the market for a coach.........

[HOU-TEX]

Thank goodness, no more Kornhole. Gruden's a character and I think he'll be a nice addition to MNF.

[BigBull17]

Originally Posted by Texaninlild

Kornholio is no more Bryant Gumbel might of been an improvement.....uh I take that back. Why would someone say we would be in the market for a coach.........

I said IF we digress, not that we will. If we win 5 games, we will be in the market for a new coach. IF.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

Agree on Gruden. I like him and he's a fun coach to watch, but I don't want him near the Texans. I love his fire and intensity, but the bottom line is - his players in TB hated him and eventually that leads to players not playing as hard as they should. I don't think his personality would mesh well with our current players.

Yeah, I like watching him on the sidelines as well. I liked him a lot while he was in Oakland, and would have loved to have had him back then, but not after what I saw in Tampa these last few seasons. Like you say, his players hated his ass. At first Keyshawn Johnson used to talk about it and everyone just thought Keyshawn was being typical Keyshawn but there was obviously some truth to some of the stuff keyshawn was saying. It seemed like every player that ended up leaving the bucs said that they hated playing for Gruden. I never saw any team or coach have any problem with Garcia ever, and Gruden flat out threw him into the garbage when he was playing pretty well for them without any Elite WR's.

I think he'll be a fantastic addition for MNF though.

[Jackie Chiles]

I've watched some of Gruden's work on NFL Network and he seemed a bit out of his element. You know he has a wealth of knowledge about the game though so if that comes out in the broadcasts it should work out alright. For the most part I don't get too involved in the broadcast, good football is good football. If the game is exciting or the Texans are involved I enjoy it regardless, if the game sucks no amount of talking from the broadcasters is going to make it much more interesting to me.

[m5kwatts]

Gruden likes the Texans a lot can't wait for our MNF game

[TimeKiller]

Well, with quotes from Kornbutter like:

Originally Posted by brownsheizer

What am I even doing here?

and:

Originally Posted by pornflyers

I must be the worst NFL commentator of all-times!!!

...how could you want him back? PTI is one thing, knowing enough about football to interject any sort of wit is another....

[Mr teX]

Yes! Finally got that gasbag & his terrible comb over off the broadcast. Now we can finally get some real football talk with jaws & chucky.

[Showtime100]

Anything that gets Tony K out of the booth is good in my book. Jon Gruden will be great IMO. I'm not a big fan of 3 in the booth, but MNF just got better so I'm not complaining.

AwfulAnnouncing had some interesting words on the subject....

Just a quick little update that I thought I'd provide its own thread for. Not only does the hiring of Gruden come as quite a shock, but it's awfully funny how people's opinions change when money is involved. When Gruden was in Tampa, he had not one, but two famous run ins with ESPN's reporting crew. Both came in 2007, with the first being in response to an ESPN report that Bucs' QB Bruce Gradkowsi might have been involved in an NCAA point shaving scandal. Gruden even uttered the words "I don't believe half the ********* people on the channel". Then later in the season, a Mort report involving Jeff Garcia, cause the coach to go off again. Here are the two quotes....


September, 2007:"I don't watch ESPN. I don't believe half the [expletive] people on the channel, personally – no disrespect. But if Bruce Gradkowski is throwing games in Toledo, how in the hell does he lead the NCAA in passing percentages? That is a crock. You know, these reports make me sick – really. I don't believe [there is] any truth to it, and I'll go to my grave believing that. I hope ESPN 3 or 4 has real sources behind this story, because it has nothing to do with the kid. He's a great kid. He wants to be great. This is very uncharacteristic, in my opinion, of 'professional' journalism."

December, 2007: "There's a lot of reports out there," Gruden said. "I just wish some of these reports were verified. (Mortensen) doesn't have a (expletive) idea what he's talking about. I can't understand why he would say that unless he got the X-rays himself."
So as you can see, there was plainly a hatred there once, that has now magically disappeared. Obviously opinions can change, but I find it kind of ironic that Gruden has now become one of the people he doesn't "f**ing believe". There's no question he is a smart Football mind, but he also has a reputation that will certainly follow him.

[Mike Kerns]

Excellent move. Love Tony on PTI, but not on MNF. Gruden was pretty good while working on the Draft, IMO.

[Goldensilence]

Addition by subtraction.

I don't see why we'd want him as a coach even IF Kubiak lost the team this year.

Gruden did a good job in Oakland but looking at how QB infatuated he became after leaving I can't help but wonder how much of his success in Oakland came on the coat tails of Rich Gannon. Other then his first year winning the SB with Dungy's team he proved to be a mediocre coach. He also looked like he couldn't develop talent on the team especially at QB.

All that said he's a huge upgrade on MNF. Don't know if he'll stay but it's nice to see the talking heads behind MNF look outside the analyst toilet for once and bring in a guy who at least knows some X's and O's.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

Gruden's choice comes as kind of a surprise, but I'll take anyone but TK on MNF. Addition by subtraction.

ABK. Anyone but Konheiser.

This is turning into a great offseason for NFL broadcasts, IMO. No more John Madden. No more Kornheiser. If CBS would just can Steve Tasker, I'd be one very, very happy NFL fan.

[DBCooper]

Thank God, Kornholer is gone!

[TimeKiller]

On 610 they said one of the reasons T-Korn stepped down was "fear of flying"....

....as if that guy could get any weaker....