During his time as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Jon Gruden developed a reputation for, at times, saying one thing and doing another.
He also developed a reputation for, at times, not being willing to personally break bad news to players who were no longer in the team’s plans.
Multiple sources tell us that Gruden already is beginning to acquire the same reputation in the world of broadcasting — on both counts.
The prime example, obviously, comes from Gruden’s reported handshake deal with NFL Network, which suddenly became a done deal with ESPN. As Rich Eisen of NFLN explained the situation earlier today on The Dan Patrick Show, “We were expecting him. We were expecting him any day. . . . And then, boom, he’s in the Monday night booth.”
We’ve privately heard of at least one other similar example arising within the context of Gruden’s fledgling broadcasting career. And it’s our understanding that Gruden did not personally inform NFLN that he would not ultimately join the network.
Meanwhile, league and media insiders continue to buzz regarding the fact that Gruden hated ESPN during his time with the Bucs. We’re told that Gruden regularly complained about ESPN, and that he would try to avoid their reporters whenever he could.
So while Gruden might end up being very good on ESPN (and we think that he will be extremely good in the broadcast booth), Gruden also might be providing some intriguing behind-the-scenes nuggets, especially since there will be plenty of folks employed by Bristol who will likely be willing to share on an off-the-record basis some of the stuff that’s actually going on there.