Chucky is heading to the booth.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden will replace Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's Monday Night Football, the network announced Monday.

"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."

Mike and Jaws are incumbents Mike Tirico, the play-by-play man, and fellow analyst Ron Jaworski.

Kornheiser, who never really lived up to the impossible legend of Howard Cosell, spent three years in the booth. Kornheiser said his fear of flying led to his decision to step down.

"I am totally grateful for the MNF opportunity that I truly enjoyed the last three seasons," he said. "I feel we got better each year. My fear of planes is legendary and sadly true. When I looked at the upcoming schedule it was the perfect storm that would've frequently moved me from the bus to the air. I kept looking at the schedule the past month and wanted to find a way to quietly extricate myself."

"If I could handpick a replacement of a football guy, I would cast a net and drag in Jon Gruden," Kornheiser added. "He is the two things you most want -- smart and funny -- and has the two things I don't -- good hair and a tan. I love PTI and am looking forward to continuing to yammer and yodel with Wilbon until the end of time."

Gruden led the Bucs to the 2003 Super Bowl title and was fired after this past season. He worked as a guest analyst this year with the NFL Network during the draft and scouting combine.

He will debut with ESPN with a preseason game Aug. 13, a Super Bowl rematch between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

At 60-57 in seven seasons, Gruden was the winningest coach in Bucs history. He was hired by Raiders owner Al Davis to coach that team when he was just 34 and produced a 40-28 record in four season, including two AFC West titles.

1 Comments

eegor said:

MAJOR upgrade!

May 18, 2009 10:17 PM

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