Chucky Returns! (Well, Sort Of)
July 23rd, 2026
“Now all of Tampa Bay will be able to hear me scream! What do you think about that, Mike Tirico?”
Jon Gruden, the man better known as “Chucky,” who guided the Bucs to their first Super Bowl title, will return to the Bucs.
No, Todd Bowles haters, Chucky won’t be coaching. But because of a work conflict that Bucs TV preseason voice Chris Myers has with his employer at FOX, the Bucs needed a play-by-play guy for Week 2 of the preseason.
Since it is a worthless preseason game, why not experiment? So the Bucs reached out to Chucky, who just a few short years ago was so toxic to the NFL that Team Glazer tried to whitewash history and removed Chucky from the Buccaneers Ring of Honor (he was reinstated two years ago).
An ESPN veteran color analyst on Monday Night Football, Chucky will get a spin at play-by-play, the Bucs announced today.
That’s right. When the Bucs play the Chiefs Aug. 22 during the worthless preseason, Chucky will call the game on WFLA-TV. His good friend and Bucs Hall of Fame corner Rondé Barber will be alongside him. Barber said to expect a different kind of broadcast.
Joe applauds the Bucs for thinking outside the box! It could be great; it could be a disaster. But Joe can’t think of a better way to make a dreadful worthless preseason game interesting.
Well done, Bucs! 👏
MAJOR BUCS ANNOUNCEMENT: WFLA reunites Super Bowl-winning head coach and Buccaneers Ring of Honor inductee Jon Gruden with Pro Football Hall of Famer, Buccaneers Ring of Honor inductee, and host of The Rondé Barber Show, Rondé Barber, in the broadcast booth when the Tampa Bay… pic.twitter.com/hMRLdUGva5
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) July 23, 2026
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:21 pm
GOOD FOR OLE CHUCKY LOL
GO BUCS!!!!
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:24 pm
Should be entertaining in a number of ways!
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:30 pm
I think his more suitable role is color analyst, but who knows? He may be terrific play-by-play. It’s not like he doesn’t know football inside and out.
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:32 pm
Hmmmm… So, that’s why HE (and Ira) dropped that little nugget last week! Actually, I give Chucky credit for bringing us ‘TWO’ Super Bowls, since he told Mark Davis HELL NO, and just flat-out REFUSED Tom Brady. If not for that, then Brady would’ve been a RAIDER, and the BUCS never win Super Bowl #2.
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:33 pm
If Arians had not pulled the Bowles move Chucky should have been re-hired
maybe never should have been fired besides the Colt Game collapse
Or hired as OC hes entertaining as S@@t and that what the NFL is
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:35 pm
I think we will hear him predict some things that will be interesting.
Is he going to be lobbying for another position the whole time?
I hope we hear their Love of the Bucs.
July 23rd, 2026 at 12:55 pm
This guy is so overrated but Joe’s at like he’s Vince Lombardi lol 😆.
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:14 pm
Screw it. Bring Chucky back to our sideline!
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:23 pm
Im glad is back in that capacity. Im super grateful HE gots us our first SuperBowl by being the missing link to get pass Philadelphia.
But I always said since I know how he was when coaching us, I wouldn’t want him as our coach again. Until I realized the following:
I WILL TAKE GRUDEN OVER BOWLES HANDS DOWN!!!!
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Bowles or Gru? Different ways of going .500 I guess.
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:40 pm
budlikedthebucarros Says
“If Arians had not pulled the Bowles move Chucky should have been re-hired
maybe never should have been fired”
Gruden was a nightmare for the Bucs by the time he was fired. He was 2 games over .500..just like Bowles is.
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:45 pm
Go Gruden, don’t listen to the negative naysayers. They are just jealous.
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:53 pm
Love Gruden for bringing us a Super Bowl, I always enjoyed listening to him on Monday night football. As far as Gruden coaching again, his offense is too outdated for it to work in today’s NFL.
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:55 pm
Makes it worth watching a preseason game
July 23rd, 2026 at 1:59 pm
Yup. And he’s unwilling to adjust to the “clapping” and RPOs. So he’s screwed. Like it or not, quarterbacks are taught the “clapping” offense since they were in high school. So unless Chucky is willing to devote years to develop a quarterback (he is not), then he’s screwed.
Just listen to him talk about offense and it’s clear he’s chained himself to the 1990s west coast offense.
A lot of stuff Chucky talks about with offense, he’s not wrong, but he’s the lone trout swimming downstream against the thousands that are swimming upstream.
July 23rd, 2026 at 2:30 pm
Quit talking about him coaching, he’s going to call a preseason game with Ronde and it’ll actually make a preseason game somewhat entertaining.
I’m looking forward to it, regardless of outcome. It should be fun even if he sucks. LOL
July 23rd, 2026 at 3:31 pm
“Since it is a worthless preseason game…” triggers me EVERYTIME! These games are very valuable. Ask dudes trying to make the team. Sheeeshhh…Love ya Jose!
July 23rd, 2026 at 3:32 pm
@oneil… Thats a shocker coming from you!
July 23rd, 2026 at 3:33 pm
24-7 football!
July 23rd, 2026 at 3:36 pm
Chucky was a good color guy. He loved every player in every game, which became redundant, but he more than made up for it with unlocked emotion.
He was deeply vested into every broadcast, and that alone drew in listeners.
He was a polarizing coach, and some say announcer as well. But I loved his announcing.
Looking forward to hearing takes on his former team.
Obviously the Glazers have buried the hatchet over the famed, unsolicited comments he made in the controversial release of his emails.
Good that both have moved on …
July 23rd, 2026 at 4:42 pm
Better have a delay because he might use some colorful language.😂
July 23rd, 2026 at 5:03 pm
Lieutenant, that’s a trigger for me too. Joe knows it, and thus utilizes it. Can’t blame him. As soon as the preseason starts, an interesting metric would be the total count of the word, “worthless” in all of Joe’s posts throughout the entire preseason. You can make a party game of it. Shots, etc.