Dungy steps away after historic Colts tenure

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/colts/2009-01-12-dungy-decision_N.htm

Living 'a dream': Dungy steps away after historic Colts tenure
By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY
1-12-9

Tony Dungy, a trailblazer and a model for all coaches with his grace and class, announced his retirement from the Indianapolis Colts on Monday.

"Don't shed any tears for me," Dungy, 53, said at an emotional news conference while his wife, Lauren, looked on. "I've gotten to live a dream most people don't get to live."

The prospect of moving into another phase of his life had intrigued Dungy for some time. Even after the defining moment of his 31-year NFL career, when he became the first black coach to hold aloft the Vince Lombardi Trophy after guiding Indianapolis to a 29-17 victory against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI to close the 2006 season, he wavered about his future.

"I have a real peace about it that this is the right time," said Dungy, who often emphasized that faith, family and football are his priorities, in that order.

On Monday, he mentioned the possibility of working as a television analyst but said, "I really don't know what I'm going to do from here. I know I want to do something that will allow me to spend more time with my family and allow me to connect with young people."

He and Lauren have two daughters, Tiara and Jade, and three sons, Eric, Jordan and Justin. They have struggled to cope with immense grief after another son, James, committed suicide at age 18 in December 2005 while attending school in Tampa.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, a member of Dungy's coaching staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a close friend, believes family considerations played a huge role in the decision. "He's got a lot of fathering to do," he said.

While Dungy expressed regret at having not turned his 11 postseason appearances into more NFL titles, most would argue he had little left to prove.

"He's done about as much as he can do in football," Edwards said. "I know he wants to go into the community and do other things. That is his higher calling."

Dungy has no regrets. "I won't look back and think that I could have done anything more, that if I'd put more time in, maybe we'd have won one more game," he said. "I think I did all that I could do. I think our coaches and players did all that we could do.

"The Lord blessed us with one (Super Bowl win), and that's one more than a lot of people win."

Among other activities, Dungy has spent time visiting young prison inmates in Tampa, where he now makes his home.

He said after his Super Bowl triumph, "When I was young, I thought prison was a place where you put bad people away. When I got to Tampa and I started visiting prisons, I just realized these were 17-, 18-, 19-year-old kids who had made a wrong choice and had so much more life ahead of them that we can't afford to waste."

Dungy, knowing how great the pull of the game can be for some coaches once they step away, kept the door slightly ajar for an eventual return. "I can't imagine coming back," he said, "but who knows what's going to happen five years from now?"

Jim Caldwell, another former Buccaneers assistant and member of his staff for the last seven years, will be elevated from associated head coach to head coach in keeping with a plan that was put into place last year.

He will have three-time NFL MVP quarterback Peyton Manning to direct a high-powered offense but faces enormous pressure as he follows in the footsteps of the only coach to produce six consecutive 12-win seasons and 10 playoff appearances in a row.

"He's ready. He's going to be fantastic," Dungy said of the offense-oriented Caldwell, who lacks experience as an NFL coordinator.

"He's going to keep us winning."

Victory lane

Dungy established himself as one of the finest head coaches of this era over the last 13 seasons. He compiled a lifetime record of 139-69 in the regular season, a .668 winning percentage that ranks seventh in league history.

After spending 15 seasons as an NFL assistant coach and going through countless interviews for a top job without receiving an offer, he gained the opportunity he yearned for when he was hired to take over the lowly Buccaneers in 1996.

After enduring a 6-10 record in his first season, he would never suffer another losing record as a head coach. He gradually built Tampa Bay into an NFC power. The Bucs reached postseason in each of his last three seasons there before he was hired by the Colts in 2002.

Indianapolis rattled off five consecutive AFC South titles before the Tennessee Titans ended that string this season. The Colts were hit hard by injuries in starting 3-4 with Manning and defensive stars Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders hobbled at times. But they swept their last nine regular-season games before suffering a 23-17 overtime loss to the San Diego Chargers in the wild-card round.

The wild ride of a season demonstrated the steady hand that Colts president Bill Polian respected so much.

"When we were 3-4 and injured and things looked as bleak as they possibly could," Polian said at the farewell news conference, "a friend of mine said to me, 'You know, there's no God-given right to winning. You better get used to the fact that one of these years, the breaks will go against you and the injuries will become too great and the obstacles will become too high. You won't have that magical season.'

"I said, 'No, no. … That's not the case at all. We have to keep scratching and patching and sooner or later Tony will do his magic,' and so he did. This season, I think — and most of us around this team believe — was his greatest coaching job of all."

Held in high esteem

Polian, with his voice cracking, said of the coach who kept Indianapolis a power despite operating within the NFL's parity-driven system, "We'll miss his faith. We'll miss his optimism. We'll miss his patience — and that's something he taught me in abundance. All of which contributes to the Dungy magic."

Like Polian, Manning, who spoke with Dungy by phone on Monday, was emotional about his coach's departure.

"We went through some of the memories. We've had some great memories together," Manning said. "I told him I loved him. He told me he loved me the same. We'll always be in touch, but I am sad that he won't be my coach anymore."

For African-American coaches still striving to make inroads, Dungy will always be the one who showed the way.

"He's given a lot of energy, a lot of hope, to black coaches with the way he did it," Edwards said.

The coach's announcement prompted a wide range of reactions from across the league.

REACTION TO DUNGY: What they're saying about coach's departure

• "We are losing one of the all-time great coaches," said Bears coach Lovie Smith, a former Dungy assistant coach and his counterpart in his Super Bowl triumph. "He is one of the modern-day pioneers of our game."

• Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney said, "I think we'll miss his knowledge, what he does. He's a good person. He's the kind of guy you'd want to see in the league. But on the other hand, if he feels it's time for him to move on, then I respect him for it."

• Running back Warrick Dunn, who played for Dungy in Tampa Bay, said, "The good news is that coach Dungy may leave football, but what he's really doing is moving his extraordinary influence to other places. Just like he did for me and for countless other players, he will always be able to help teach young men how to be grown and able men."

• Long-time rival Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, known for his chilly postgame greetings, said, "People often say that teams reflect their coach, and that can be said of Tony Dungy's teams, which are consistent winners every single year."

Contributing: Jim Corbett, Jarrett Bell, Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star

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