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Gruden Joins MNF

The combination of Tony Kornheiser, Mike Tirico, and Ron Jaworski did not work for Monday Night Football. It clearly wasn't Tirico's fault, as he provided the same caliber of vanilla that he can always be counted on to provide. The problem, then, was somewhere between Jaws and TK. As the MNF formula usually goes, mix one part ex-football guy with one opinionated (and potentially zany) talking head then layer in someone to take care of the administrative duties. After catching flak for an underwhelming  booth last year, Jon Gruden will be taking over for Kornheiser.

Kornheiser was doomed from the start. Whoever thought it would be a grand idea to have Tony spend a solid minute or two reading directly from a script at the beginning of every broadcast was nuts. Kornheiser has always been at his best while given latitude, free to voice his opinions in the way that only Kornheiser can. His MNF stint was merely a caricature, the annoying quirks of Kornheiser distilled, bottled, and doled out shot by shot throughout the course of the game.

Jaws never really showed a tremendous interest in providing in-depth color analysis, so I imagine he'll fill the talking head role. While I can't say that the combination looks as good on paper, the end result should be better.