ESPN’s Jon Gruden wish is granted by NFL

“Monday Night Football” just can’t quit Jon Gruden.

ESPN executives lobbied the NFL schedule-makers and successfully landed Gruden’s return as head coach of the Raiders for their game against the Rams that will air as the second half of the network’s opening weekend “Monday Night Football” slate.

“The Raiders were a pretty good team two seasons ago, we believe they have the core of a very competitive team, and Jon obviously was a big part of our family for a long time,” Burke Magnus, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming and scheduling, told The Athletic.

“The game had several angles to it. There is a curiosity factor to Jon’s return to football after so many years, it’s a good team, it’s a really good opponent. There are many reasons to watch.”

The Jets and Lions will kick off the Sept. 10 doubleheader at 7:20 p.m. before Gruden’s Raiders follow at 10:20 p.m.

Gruden, who started as a color commentator on MNF in 2009 before calling his last game in January, has made a splash since he returned to the coaching ranks, still not afraid to speak his mind – whether it’s his disdain for instant replay, the catch rule or analytics. He coached the Raiders and Buccaneers, winning one Super Bowl in Tampa, before becoming a broadcaster.

It has not yet been determined who will be in the booth alongside new play-by-play man Joe Tessitore to replace Gruden and analyze his first game.

ESPN pays the NFL $1.9 billion annually for the primetime package, but former play-by-play man Sean McDonough — who was at times critical of the league — admitted last month that they got “one of the worst NFL games each week.”

Magnus said that new ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro has made it a priority to improve the network’s relationship with the NFL in his first year on the job. Under former president John Skipper, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” devoted a lot of coverage to the football’s concussion issue, which has reportedly angered the league.

“[Pitaro] has already been in to see the commissioner and met on a couple of occasions with their senior leadership,” Magnus said. “It is a priority for the Walt Disney Co. It is a work in progress, but Jimmy has made it a priority.”