Tennessee Football: 5 Reasons Jon Gruden Would Take The Vols Job

Gruden Isn’t Really That Great Of A Broadcaster

The world of sports media is a very fluid place. Places like ESPN have to constantly evolve to stay relevant to what sports fans crave (even more so these days).

Jon Gruden, despite his wacky personality, doesn’t really provide sports fans with what they crave. There’s a reason Tony Romo has become an instant legend in the the broadcasting world. He gives us a fresh look at the game — Gruden doesn’t do that.

If you watch Gruden on Monday Night Football, you’ll notice it’s very formula driven. Gruden doesn’t do much, if any, pre-snap commentary. He typically reacts to the play in a very vanilla way.

The New York Post actually did a piece on Gruden’s blandness a few years ago.

Here’s an excerpt that gives an example of what I’m talking about.

"Gruden followed his Kuechly info with: “What a start to his career, Mike. He had [forced] nine turnovers, himself, his first two years. That led all the linebackers. He has zero, this year. He needs to get one for this Panther defense.” That’s neither color nor analysis. That’s just some off-the-sheet stats mixed with larded filler. Is Kuechly double-teamed? In any way avoided or assigned by offenses? Or is he fresh out of determination and skill?"

That’s basically what Gruden does during the course of a game. He doesn’t really offer any new insight, he just repeats the same stats we’ve mostly already heard.

There’s a lot of talk about whether or not ESPN will retain Monday Night Football in the near future. If they don’t retain it, then Gruden would be out of a job.

And if they do retain it, there will likely be some major changes made. It wouldn’t shock me to see ESPN go after a recently retired player, hoping to catch some magic like CBS did with Romo.

That’s why the timing might be right for Gruden to get back into coaching in 2018.