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Front & Center: Jon Gruden on return of fourth Gruden’s QB Camp

Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden (L) with former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck during Gruden’s QB Camp in 2012. (Tim Casey/ESPN Images)

Click HERE to listen or visit iTunes to download the podcast and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Front & Center podcast. Also, make sure to check out the ESPN Radio app, available for the iPad.

For top college quarterbacks moving onto the National Football League, visiting Jon Gruden’s QB Camp has become an annual rite of spring.

The Monday Night Football analyst and Super Bowl-winning coach personally prepares detailed lesson plans for every player.

Last year, Gruden mentored Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill and others, arguably the most successful class of rookie quarterbacks in NFL history.

He helped prep each of them for the jump to the NFL.

(To the delight of fans, Gruden also introduced “Spider 2 Y Banana” into the lexicon.)

Gruden’s QB Camp series presented by Corona Extra is back for a fourth year this spring, beginning Thursday, April 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) and continuing throughout the month with segments on SportsCenter and NFL studio shows across multiple ESPN networks.

Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden with former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck during Gruden’s QB Camp in 2012. (Tim Casey/ESPN Images)

The SportsCenter specials will offer a first-hand look at some of this year’s top prospects leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft, which ESPN will again televise April 25-27.

Nine of the top quarterbacks in the draft are scheduled to participate in Gruden’s QB Camp:

• Matt Barkley (USC)
• Tyler Bray (Tennessee)
• Zac Dysert (Miami, OH)
• Mike Glennon (N.C. State)
• Landry Jones (Oklahoma)
• EJ Manuel (Florida State)
• Ryan Nassib (Syracuse)
• Geno Smith (West Virginia)
• Tyler Wilson (Arkansas)

The series will also include a trio of non-quarterbacks:

• Luke Joeckel (Texas A&M), the 2012 Outland Trophy winner and top-five prospect at offensive tackle.
• Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina), the heralded Gamecocks running back who suffered a severe knee injury in October but hopes to play in the NFL in 2013.
• Manti Te’o (Notre Dame), the highly-touted linebacker and Heisman Trophy runner-up who led the Fighting Irish to the BCS Championship game.

Each prospect will visit Gruden’s office in Tampa, Fla. — affectionately dubbed the Fired Football Coaches Association (FFCA) — for a film session. Most of the players will also participate in an on-field workout.

In the Front & Center podcast above, Gruden discusses QB Camp and his expectations for this year’s class. Air dates and times for the entire series will be finalized in the coming weeks.

Gruden’s QB Camp alumni:
2010: Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame), Colt McCoy (Texas) and Tim Tebow (Florida).
2011: Blaine Gabbert (Missouri), Andy Dalton (TCU), Jake Locker (Washington), Cam Newton (Auburn), Ryan Mallett (Arkansas), and, prior to the supplemental draft, Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State).
2012: Kirk Cousins (Michigan State), Nick Foles (Arizona), Robert Griffin III (Baylor), Case Keenum (Houston), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Kellen Moore (Boise State), Brock Osweiler (Arizona State), Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M), Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State) and Russell Wilson (Wisconsin).

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