Jaws dropped from “Monday Night Football”

For one of the few times in its 42-year history, “Monday Night Football” games will be called by two men in the booth. On Wednesday, ESPN shifted Ron Jaworski to analytical work on various studio shows in its empire, and it will let Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico call the games.

“Jaws served us well,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive vice president for programming. “But when we looked at everything we have, it became apparent that expanding his role on the other stuff to let him focus on all the teams, not just one game, was a better use of him.”

Jaworski signed a five-year contract to appear on “Sunday N.F.L. Countdown,” “Monday N.F.L. Countdown,” “N.F.L. Matchup,” “Mike & Mike in the Morning” and “Pardon the Interruption.” ESPN won the right to carry more studio programming in its new N.F.L. contract, increasing the need for Jaworski.

Gruden, of course, is more the star of “Monday Night” than Jaworski, although Jaworski has been an analyst much longer, working at ESPN in numerous roles since 1990.

Gruden led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory in 2003. His scowling, expressive face has long been compared to Chucky, the horror-film doll. And he was the subject of a recent profile in The New Yorker. Last October, he signed a five-year extension to stay at ESPN.

Williamson said that Gruden’s three years at ESPN proved that he could be the sole analyst.

“Frankly, whenever you bring in somebody new, you don’t know if they can carry the whole game,” he said. “While I had high hopes for him, I didn’t know if we were ready to make the leap at that time.”

“Monday Night Football” came to life in 1970 on ABC with Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith; Frank Gifford replaced Jackson the next season. There have been only six seasons when two announcers called the games, most recently from 2002 to ’05, when Al Michaels and John Madden were paired.

Jaworski replaced Joe Theismann in 2007 and worked with Tony Kornheiser for two seasons before Gruden, who had been fired as the Buccaneers’ coach, took Kornheiser’s place in 2009. Gruden’s comfort in his role led him to dominate the games, moving Jaworski to, at best, a supporting role. Both are game-film wonks, and often sounded as if they were competing with — and not complementing — each other.

Williamson said that in providing feedback to Gruden, he has told him not to overuse “great” in describing players; to recognize when not to speak; to anticipate strategy during replays rather than always examining the play that just occurred; and to be clear about the film-room terminology that he often uses.

“Our fans like that sort of stuff, but you don’t want to leave them in the dark,” he said. “We feel our fans are very educated, but coaches can go places that fans can’t, so you need to explain the jargon.”

In a statement issued by ESPN, Gruden said, “Jaws has taught me so much about broadcasting, and nobody works harder.”

This article was written by Richard Sandomir and appeared in the New York Times.