Jon Gruden's return to Raymond James Stadium will be witnessed by a national television audience on ABC.
Gruden, now a broadcast staple for ESPN, will join "Monday Night Football" colleague Mike Tirico to call the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. Gruden will be working at the stadium for the first time since he was fired as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2008 season. Gruden remained a Tampa resident and became part of the "MNF" broadcast team, doing commentary with play-by-play man Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski, in 2009.
The Outback Bowl, celebrating its 25th year, matches teams from the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences.
"Mike Tirico and I love it, New Year's Day, the Big Ten taking on the SEC at the Outback Bowl's 25th anniversary game. One of the best bowl trips in the country, and the Big Ten and SEC will get after each other," Gruden said in a statement from bowl organizers. "Mike and I can't wait to be a part of everything."
Outback signed a four-year contract extension with ESPN in March that moved the game to broadcast partner ABC with a 1 p.m. kickoff on New Year's Day. In previous years, the game started in the late morning and was telecast by ESPN. The game, which began as the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1986, became a New Year's Day game in 1990. Outback Steakhouse signed on as title sponsor in 1996.
"It's a testament to everyone who has been a part of the growth and development of the Outback Bowl that our broadcast partners would assign a team the caliber of Jon and Mike to our special 25th anniversary game," bowl president and chief executive Jim McVay said in a statement.
Tickets for the game cost $70 (plus service charge) and are available through Ticketmaster. For game information, go to www.outbackbowl.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement