Jon Gruden decided to leave ‘Monday Night Football’ when Mike Tirico left

Jon Gruden didn’t leave Monday Night Football when Mike Tirico did, but that’s when he decided it might be time to leave ESPN to coach in the NFL again.

Gruden and Tirico spent seven seasons together in the Monday Night Football booth. When Tirico left for NBC in 2016, Gruden stayed on for two more seasons with Sean McDonough as the play-by-play voice. But in a recent interview with OutKick’s Dan Dakich, Gruden revealed he decided to leave ESPN when Tirico did.

“Do you ever have regrets leaving the booth? Leaving that job?” Dakich asked Gruden.

“Yeah, I do. I loved that job. I really did. I really enjoyed working with Mike Tirico in particular. Tirico was like the quarterback, he was the Tom Brady of the whole operation,” Gruden said on Don’t @Me with Dan Dakich. “You see him still today, he still has that IT factor. And no disrespect to anybody, but when Mike left, it was a new offense for me. I didn’t learn it very well and I probably made the decision to try to get back into coaching when Mike moved on. But I sure do miss it and I had a great time and those were nine good years.”

Tirico leaving ESPN sent Monday Night Football into years of instability, which was only aided by Gruden’s departure. After seven seasons of Tirico and Gruden, ESPN hadn’t seen a Monday Night Football crew make it to year three until Joe Buck and Troy Aikman achieved the feat this season.

After Tirico went to NBC, Gruden worked with McDonough for two seasons before he left ESPN and media to coach the Raiders. Gruden’s departure paved the way for one season of Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten, and the Booger Mobile. When that experiment was dubbed a failure, Tessitore and Booger McFarland enjoyed one year in the booth, followed by the trio of Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick for two seasons. This brings us to Buck and Aikman, who are now in their third season as ESPN’s Monday Night Football announcing team.

It’s interesting to hear Gruden categorize working with McDonough as learning a “new offense” and claim he “didn’t learn it very well.” That certainly makes it seem like Gruden didn’t enjoy working with McDonough as much as he did Tirico. Similarly, McDonough hasn’t spoken highly of their partnership, previously saying working with Gruden was “awkward” and “uncomfortable.”

But if Gruden already decided he was ready to get back into coaching once Tirico left, it’s fair to wonder whether he was ever all in with McDonough during their two seasons on Monday Night Football. And if Gruden wasn’t all in with McDonough, that would better explain why their dynamic was “awkward” and “uncomfortable.”

[OutKick]