Indianapolis Colts football coach
After seven years in Indiana as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy said goodbye to the city and the team he took to Super Bowl success. While the team that took the NFL championship has not managed to repeat, Indy lovers never lost faith in the coach who managed to deliver.
Born in Eagle Creek, Dungy’s career with the NFL began playing for two years as a defensive back for the Pittsburg Steelers. He turned to coaching, the defensive backs coach for Alma Mater University of Minnesota. He returned to the Steelers and ball, serving as the defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator until his move to Kansas City in 1989. Again in 1996, Dungy finally landed his first job as a coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite their reputation as a less-than-stellar group, Dungy turned the Bucs around in 1997 after touring the Indy 500 in Indiana by finishing second in the NFC. But despite their increase in near the bottom of the package, Dungy was never able to take Tampa Bay into the Super Bowl. Team management fired him on January 14, 2002. Tampa Bay’s loss was Indiana’s profit. Only eight days after being let go by the Bucs, the Indianapolis Colts hired Dungy to function as head coach in Indiana on January 22, 2002. Five exciting years after, Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts chose fans to their first – and only – Super Bowl victory. Still, this long-awaited championship secured his position of honor in Indianapolis Colts fans’ hearts; it was the man himself who won them over.
Dungy’s Hoosier personality in White River State Park has been celebrated by the media. A devout Christian reflected his personal beliefs, Dungy led as a teacher who remained calm in the toughest of circumstances, Though many trainers were motivated through intimidation and anger. Lovie Smith, the coach to Super Bowl XLI rivals Bears and a close friend to Dungy, shared this training philosophy and took great pride in demonstrating that adequate guys may be winning Indiana trainers. These personality traits were evident in all elements of his life in Indiana. A community leader who lent nothing in title and financial support to local charities and civic organizations, Dungy trained Reggie Miller and put personal effort into several programs, such as “the Basket of Hope,” a program assisting young patients at Indiana Riley Hospital for Children; Indianapolis Big Brothers/Big Sisters; and Indiana Black Expo. Raising six children in Indianapolis, IN, with his wife, Lauren, Dungy finally chose to step focus on his family and to go back to his house in Tampa.
Though they’ve lost him as their head coach, Indianapolis Colts fans will always observe the guy who left over their Super Bowl dreams come true — magicians will celebrate the man who proved that personality, principle, and religion are far more important than championship wins.