Monday Night Football tried a Cowboy, a comic, a columnist and a Cosell. To fill the latest vacancy in the broadcast booth, ESPN went with a winning formula — a coach, and a Super Bowl champion at that.

Fresh off getting fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jon Gruden was hired to replace Tony Kornheiser this season.

The snarl-for-snarky swap came after Kornheiser cited a fear of flying in his decision to leave after three years.

Gruden has spent his entire adult life coaching football, and said this job would give him an "opportunity to see things from a different angle."

Gruden won the 2003 title with the Bucs, and there's no telling how long he'll stay away from the field. Neither he nor Norby Williamson, ESPN's executive vice president of production, would directly answer how long Gruden's contract lasts, or whether he was free to leave for an NFL post if one is offered.

Gruden will join Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski for the show's 40th season.

Gruden recalled watching in the days when Howard Cosell and Don Meredith shared the booth, and comedian Dennis Miller's stint led to Kornheiser's run.

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No White House: James Harrison plans to pass on another trip to the White House with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harrison, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, says he'll skip the Super Bowl champion's visit to the White House to meet President Barack Obama on Thursday, just as he did when the Steelers were honored by President George W. Bush in June 2006.

Harrison doesn't believe the invitation is all that special, telling Pittsburgh station WTAE-TV, if the Steelers hadn't beaten the Cardinals, 27-23, with a last-minute rally, "He (Obama) would have invited Arizona."