Photo credit: @DamonBruce

By Jeremy Kahn

It was never a secret since the firing of Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio on who his replacement would be.

Well, it is now official, as the Raiders have announced the hiring of Jon Gruden as head coach of the Raiders.

Gruden returns to the team that he coached from 1996-2001 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the Raiders lost to the New England Patriots 16-13 in the AFC Divisional Game, it what is known as “The Tuck Rule Game.”

The 54-year old Gruden led the Raiders to the 2000 AFC Championship Game, where the Raiders lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens.

Gruden spent the last nine seasons as an analyst on ESPN’S Monday Night Football after he was fired by the Buccaneers after the 2008 season.

“It’s an emotional and bittersweet day for our Monday Night Football family, as today we say goodbye to Coach Gruden after nine very distinguished years coaching this Monday Night Football group,” ESPN analyst Sean McDonough said at the beginning of Saturday’s game.

Kind of ironic that Gruden’s last game with ESPN was at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders rival since the two teams entered the old American Football League back in 1960, when the Chiefs played in Dallas as the Dallas Texans.

“These Chiefs fans have been on my case since we got here,” Gruden said jokingly.

ESPN.com contributed to this report.