Sean McDonough opens telecast by saying goodbye to Jon Gruden, who will coach Raiders

It's the worst-kept secret in football: Jon Gruden is leaving the booth for the Raiders

Jon Gruden will be the Raiders' next head coach. It won't happen Saturday, because Gruden has obligations with his current employer, ESPN, and it won't be Monday because that's when he's expected to "interview" for his new gig. The expectation is that the official announcement will come Tuesday, which makes sense given that the team has scheduled a press conference to reportedly announce what everyone already knows: Gruden's their guy.

On Saturday, however, Gruden was in his familiar spot in the broadcast booth serving as color commentator alongside play-by-play partner Sean McDonough. McDonough welcomed viewers to the Wild-Card matchup between the Titans and Chiefs like this:

"I'm Sean McDonough along with the coach, Jon Gruden. Delighted to have you with us on this very exciting day for football fans everywhere. It's an emotional and bittersweet day for our 'Monday Night Football' family as today as we say goodbye to coach Gruden after nine very distinguished years.

"Coach ... great legacy on 'Monday Night Football,' not only have you lived up to it, you've enhanced it with your performance here," McDonough continued. "But I know you're looking forward to getting back to coaching. We congratulate you as you head back to the sidelines with the Raiders."

"Well, thank you," Gruden said, adding: "Nothing's official yet, but these Chiefs' fans have been on my case since I got here!"

It's official, Jon, even if the Raiders haven't yet issued a statement.

Last Wednesday, Gruden appeared on "Golic and Wingo" to talk about his future. to answer the obvious question: Is he going to be the Raiders' next coach?

"That's up to Mark Davis," he said. "I've had good conversations with Mark and they're still going through the interview process. When he knows, I think we'll all know, but I appreciate Adam [Schefter] and Chris [Mortensen's] confidence that I have a chance of getting that job -- it's awful nice though."

But what if Davis says Gruden's his guy, will he be the next coach of the Raiders?

"I think there's a good chance," Gruden said.

Turns out, Gruden is Davis' guy. And this goes a long way in explaining why Gruden will reportedly sign a 10-year, $100 million deal.

When Gruden is hired on Tuesday, he'll return to Oakland with a 95-81 career record that spans 11 seasons. He was 38-26 with the Raiders and 57-55 with the Buccaneers, where he won a Super Bowl following the 2002 season. He'll also have something he never did in Tampa Bay: A franchise quarterback. Derek Carr is coming off a disappointing season but he was a legit MVP candidate in 2016. In seven seasons in Tampa, Gruden had a .509 winning percentage with Brad Johnson, Brian Griese, Chris Simms, Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski under center.