Former Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden finds a niche on television

Say hello to Jon Gruden, television star. Soon, he may have his own sitcom, writes Times columnist Gary Shelton.

(Jon Gruden, on right chatting with Jets pick Mark Sanchez, impressed NFL Network brass with his draft coverage work. [NFL.com])

Comments

[Dspkable]

Congrats Jon. I wasn't your biggest fan, but I got a little sick of the other commentators making sly remarks about you not having a coaching job during the draft. I hope you get a big fat TV contract that those other guys can suck on.

[Were Read 2 Def]

Thats down right NASTY brother!

[mm]

Good for you Gruden. Take the money for a year and get back to the NFL next year when you will have your choice where you want to coach.

[Mark Urbo]

Man, did he look good up there with Sanchez ! ..and what an idiot Morris looked like on ESPN...

They know-th not what they do-th Coach, they've destroyed the plan you and Bruce had going and will be 2-6 at midpoint. Enjoy you're time off...

[Randy C]

There has never been a doubt that John Gruden understands football. His on screen personality made him likable and entertaining.

[BucFandango]

Chucky, brother, you're still my hero. Great job at keeping NFL ratings up and BSPN ratings down. Marshall Faulk and Jamie Dukes both looked job scared, and rightfully so. The intelligence and whit just further demonstrated how the Golden Sp!rm club made a Bonehead move with Raheem the Daydream. Chucky never has a bad word to say about anybody. Monday Night Football would rock with Chucky & Billick. No BS, just hardcore Football.

[Itch]

John Madden.....John Gruden

Its a natural

[Dspkable]

While I wish the best for Gruden, I can't figure out why some fans/critics are already hating on Morris. Yeah he's a jock: talks like a jock, walks like a jock, and jocks like him. Personally I don't know how players related to Gruden, except he was too small to play football (like most of his fans.) At least Morris doesn't make the faces like Gruden made, so we won't have those snapshots of Morris's face crinkled up like a 'Chucky' doll on the frontpage of the sports section when we lose a game.

[OAR]

The "Don" Kelley, I'm certainly not like most of his fans then(not too small/short here). I really enjoyed his passion for the game. I assume that's what players related to.
"Yeah he's a jock"? Morris might look the part(also except his height he is short too), but he didn't play football in college. Gruden at least did play quarterback(although second string) at University of Dayton. I think Gruden's brother Jay(6'-2") got the height gene.

[mike]

Good for you John. Please just sit back and take the Glazers money. They deserve to get the shaft after what they did to you, and it would be cool to se EA Sports GRUDEN 2012!!!!

[Al]

Amazing! The same posters that just a few months ago wanted Gruden fired, run out of town, house burned to the ground and then run out of the next town are now talking how great he was. Some of you Buc fans are just plain idiots!!!!!

[OAR]

Al, do you really read these posts?

[Robert]

I really think this TV gig can help Gruden's coaching career. He is interacting with alot of different people and having to adjust to different personalities. I think this TV gig might him open up better with his future players. That guy Urbo on here is a joke! To rip on Morris makes you sound like a fool. Ever time this guy gets on TV he sounds fired up and ready to play that day. He is going to bring in great energy to this team and bring some passion back to the locker room. Hey Urbo, I have personally talked to 3 different BUCS players and they all say the same thing. They think Gruden being let go was the right move and they all really want to play and win for Rah. Urbo, you may be sad that Gruden is gone, but maybe you should join Match.com and see if gruden will let you take him on a date!

[Jay]

I thought he did well, but being a good commentator is not the same as being a good coach. I hope Jon takes this time off to re-evaluate what he did wrong with the Bucs and maybe make some changes in the way he deals with his players, personnel, and the public. I wish him well, but he's not yet a HoF coach. If he can make those adjustments, and tweak his game, I think he has a chance of becoming one.

[OAR]

Robert, How do you know Gruden has a personal page on Match.com?

[OAR]

Actually just waiting to see what kind of snide/hater comment The Great Almighty DR Foosball Idiot has to post. Afterall, we all know he'd rather fall down a flight of stairs with a light bulb in his mouth than have anything remotely nice/good to say about Gruden.

[Robert]

OAR, I was just being a SMART A%%(LOL)

[BucFandango]

I'm still trying to figure out what Gruden did wrong. Injuries killed this team in each of the last 3 years. I think most of the negative comments came from players that were lazy or couldn't hold up their end of the deal. The players let Gruden down, not the other way around. The Glazers made a big mistake by letting him go. Raheem does not have a high I.Q. You can hear it in his voice and the way he speaks. Bill Belichick is a Great Coach and listen to what he says. He knows what to say and what not to say. Raheem is fired up and enthusiastic, but he is seriously lacking the Brains and Intellect to be a great coach in the NFL. His only hope is to surround himself with the best coaches and delegate everything except the Playlist for practice music. Raheem may have the Locker room now but he doesn't have the qualities that make a great leader. Don't confuse popularity and leadership. Maybe Raheem should run for President in 2012'.

[Robert]

To say this guy does not have a high I.Q. is pure IGNORANCE! You sound like a complete fool Bucfandango! You judge someone by how they speak! Sounds like you are the one who needs to raise the IQ. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to fe a NFL coach. You have to know the game of football ! Bucfan, you are a complete disgrace and know nothing about football. To say someone you have never met in your life does not have the qualities to be a leader is pure IGNORANCE and you should lay of the pipe you piece of toe jam!

[Randy C]

BucFandango,

Grudens problems were that he would say anything to get them (players) to buy in, then yank everything he promised and still expect everyone to buy in. Most of the time this was a blatent lie. Secondly, he always had to be the star. Thirdly, he often outsmarted himself practicing one thing and then doing totally different on gameday. This got old by the end of the season. Lastly, he could figure a plan to beat any teams defence as good as I've seen. The problem was he didn't have the personell to carry out the plan, mainly his QB. If you remember when Rich Gannon was commentator, how many times he pointed out that Garcia was missing his man downfield and dumping to the check down. Lastly , he was way to stubburn to change or give in. Sitting out a year is the best thing that could happen to him. He will evaluate himself and comeback a better coach than before.

For all the Raheem doubters, I hope you relax a bit and wait to see what he can do before calling him a failure already. Same with Freeman doubters. After the draft I found myself quite dissapointed, but only because I don't know a thing about Freeman. The more I hear , the more he sounds like the kind of player you draft in the first round. Lets wait and see about Raheem and our new staff and players. Good luck to Coach Gruden, he will comeback to the league and do well!

[BucFandango]

So Randy, are you basing all of that on Facts or speculation? Hearsay? Read it in a blog so it must be true? Injuries cost the Bucs their last 2 seasons and Gruden his job. I do agree he had faults and will return a better coach, but Jon has forgot more about Football than you Gruden Haters will ever know. He lead an underachieving team to a Superbowl Win. Injuries have plagued the Bucs for the last several years now. Check the facts, they are there to back up this claim. Tell me that losing Graham and Flip weren't major factors last year. What if Happy Feet wasn't a scratch against Atlanta at the last minute? Jovan Haye? Hovan? Brooks? Askew? Cox? Faine, Sabby, Joseph? Galloway? Stovall? Geno Hayes? Garcia? Griese? Cadi again? 2007? 2006? about 14 players each year on I.R. These are the facts. I haven't missed a Buccaneer Game since 1995 Robert. You don't have a clue Junior. We'll see what happens with Raheem, but I get embarassed every time he opens his mouth publicly. If you can't see it, I completely understand why. It is much easier to be a Rocket Scientist than an NFL Coach. I'm not saying Rah doesn't have some talent, but he wasn't a player. He has lied more in the last 100 days(hint) than Chucky did in the previous 7 years. If any one can recognize ignorance, I think your the guy. Toe jam works for me. I've been called much worse by much better than you kiddo.

[OAR]

"You judge someone by how they speak!"?
Didn't a bunch of you guys say the same thing about Antonio Byrant last year when he spoke to the media? Calling him an idiot, low IQ, etc.

[BucFandango]

OK, I have been a bit harsh, and of course I want this team to succeed always, in every way. Jon Gruden is gone and I will always view that as a big mistake. What a person says tells a great deal about them. I don't know of a better way to communicate other than through speaking. To say that a leader's orator skills are not important is naive at best. Great leaders have to be great communicators. We'll see how it goes. I'll be at the games. You will be at the games, and hopefully things will turn out for the best. I do believe the Bucs drafted some unsung players that have tremendous upside and potential.

[BucFandango]

I also think that comparing the job of a receiver to the job of a Head Coach is apples and oranges. A WR has to know plays, run, cut, catch, & block. A Coach has to use logic and reason, plan, lead, organize, and control. I never called Bryant anything but a good WR. He also dropped quite a few passes early on in the season, but when he got it together, he really got it together. I'm glad he didn't go to the Pats. I would like to see raheem hire a speaking coach to help him with his communication skills. It would benefit him as well as the overall perception of the team. IMNHO.

[OAR]

BucFandango, I wasn't comparing the jobs of receiver to head coach by any means. I was actually defending you by what some of these posts say and then go and do the same thing, but about someone else.

[Robert]

BUCFAN, good thing RAH doesn't have to come talk to you and all your CEO type buddies with his excellnet speech.. Good thing Rah is going to be addressing an NFL locker room where about 3/4's of it talks with street slang and his speech will be better than most of their's. How about we set RAH up to get a speech lesson from you so he doesn't embarass you anymore? How about you fill him in on some leadership techniques? Actually, how about you pull your head out of your A%% and just pretend you didn't say something so stupid and ignorant? I am friends with a couple players on this team and they all are fired up to play for Rah! So why don't you just worry about the way people are talking at work and leave the NFL coaching to RAH? I think you will find both rewarding. We will have a better team than we had in a while and all the people who deal with your company will all talk about how great the employees talk where you work.

[OAR]

Robert, opinins, opinions, opinions, you've got'em, I've got'em, we've all got've, even your player friends.

[BucFandango]

Well Robert, it sounds like your a little closer to the fire than I am on this one, so I'm going to have to defer to you. I'm hoping for the best, always.

[DR]

You guys who dog Rah for his speaking skills are probably the same morons who voted for that mentally challenged Bush guy.
It's good to see Gruden find something that he is good at. Hopefully he sticks to it and doesn't ruin another team.
I was half and half on Madden, but don't ever compare Gruden to Madden. Gruden wasn't even close to the coach Madden was. He couldn't hold his shoe lace when it came to coaching.

[DR]

I am still amazed that there are people out there who would have rather seen Gruden get yet, ANOTHER chance rather than give a good guy like Morris a shot. Morris will make you eat your words shortly. Like Robert said, you will see some inspired ball being played this year. Though they may have a losing record at the end of the year, the inspired ball will make you forget about the pathetic performances by the Bucs last year.

[BucFandango]

DR, you do not make sense. Why do you qualify every statement that you make? My guess is that it is all hot air and you just like the sound of your own voice. How can you say the Bucs will play inspired ball, forget about pathetic performance, we'll eat our words, and then the Bucs will have a losing record? Losing teams aren't happy or inspired to lose. It is obvious why OAR gets so fed up with you. Say what you want about Georgy Porgy, but at least he didn't spend $100 Billion dollars per day in his first One Hundred days. That's right DR rocket scientist. $10 Trillion. Good luck paying the interest on that.

[OAR]

Ah the DR spin-doctor back in the office I see. DR you were specifically one I was talking about with the Byrant comment. You dogged him for the way he talked. I know cause, I remember reading your diarrhetic post.
And "THE" Gruden hater, doesn't let me down. "doesn't ruin another team."? That's hilarious!