By Darin Hayes October 6, 1955- Tony Dungy played football as a Minnesota Golden Gopher. He was a good athlete, so much so that he made it onto the roster of the 1977 & 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers, during their dynasty run, as a defensive back.
He then played a third season with the San Francisco 49ers. His play was not where his NFL greatness shone through. Still, after his playing career was over, he applied the lessons he learned from coaching greats such as Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Dennis Green to move into a defensive coordinator position with his alma mater, the University of Minnesota.
In 1981, he returned with the Steelers, where he worked his way up to be the defensive coordinator eventually. He then moved on to serve as an assistant with the Kansas City team before taking over the defense of the Minnesota Vikings. In 1996, Tony received his big break as he became the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Head Coach. Dungy spent 6 years in that role, taking the Bucs to the playoffs in four of them. In 2002, he was relieved of his duties with the organization.
After only 8 days of being unemployed, the Indianapolis Colts came calling to hire Tony as their head man, and what great timing that was for all involved. Dungy and the Colts in 2006 defeated New England in the AFC Championship, 38-34, and then snatched victory in Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears to become the first African American Head Coach to lead an NFL team to a title. He was voted the NFL’s Coach of the Year in 2005 and made the All-Decade Team as the coach for the 2000s. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Tony Dungy in 2016.
[…] Tony Dungy […]