Gold Jacket Spotlight: Tony Dungy, more soft-spoken than oft spoken

TONY DUNGY once said his parents encouraged him to learn “by experience and understanding” – to react, think and adjust.

Those learning behaviors resulted in a successful collegiate and NFL playing career, a Super Bowl-winning coaching career, enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2016) and have landed him in the glow of this week’s Gold Jacket Spotlight.

As a student-athlete at the University of Minnesota, Tony played quarterback. His dedication and discipline to learn, improve and understand were noteworthy, especially to the coaching staff. Coaches provided Tony a key to the university fieldhouse because, according to a 1986 story in Sport magazine, they “got tired of finding him camped by the door in the morning, itching to start watching game films.”

As a defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the description of Tony as a “coach on the field” started early in his playing career, and he offered his perspective on that moniker to Glenn Sheeley of the Pittsburgh Press in 1978.

“I think that ‘coach on the field’ thing stems back to my being a quarterback. When you’re a quarterback, you always have to know what everybody else is supposed to do, and I kind of think that carried over,” Tony said. “At first, I kind of did it out of curiosity. Then I realized it was going to be the key to me staying there.”

Sheeley added, “Dungy could recite every Steeler play and the responsibilities of the defensive backs, linebackers, running back and receivers.”

DONNIE SHELL, a Hall of Famer (Centennial Class of 2020) and Tony’s teammate on the Steelers’ Super Bowl XIII championship team, observed: “Everybody’s destined for something in life; his destiny is to be a head coach.”

In March 1981, Tony entered the professional coaching ranks after Steelers head coach CHUCK NOLL offered him an assistant defensive coach position. The fulfillment of Shell’s predicted destiny for Tony began.

“Tony probably epitomizes Chuck’s teaching philosophy as much or more than anyone he’s ever had,” longtime Steelers publicity director Joe Gordon said.

Tony was promoted to defensive backfield coach in 1982 and in 1984 became defensive coordinator, the first Black given that responsibility on an NFL team.

“I’ve got a doctorate’s worth of knowledge from Chuck Noll. He knows what it’s about, and that’s teaching,” Tony told Len Pasquarelli in 1986. “Chuck gave me the chance. I didn’t come in here and wow him with expertise. But he knew me, and he knew my work habits. He knew that I’d work at it, and that’s important to him.”

Pasquarelli describe Tony as “more deductive than destructive. More professorial than dictatorial. More soft-spoken than oft spoken. More teacher than preacher.”

Additional coaching experiences in Kansas City (defensive backs) and Minnesota (defensive coordinator) added to Tony’s experiences and development into one of the game’s best defensive minds.

Tony would use his “doctorate’s knowledge” and accept head coaching positions in Tampa (1996-2001) and Indianapolis (2002-08).

Previous to Tony’s arrival in Tampa, the Buccaneers had experienced 12 double-digit loss seasons in 13 years. Under his leadership, Tampa teams qualified for the playoffs four out of six seasons and won a divisional title in 1999, their first since 1981.

Less than two weeks after his departure from the Buccaneers, Tony was hired by the Colts. He would become the team’s winningest coach.

Indianapolis claimed five division titles and advanced to the playoffs each year of Tony’s tenure, culminating in a Super Bowl XLI championship against the Chicago Bears.

With that title, Tony joined MIKE DITKA and TOM FLORES as individuals who won a Super Bowl championship as a player and head coach.

Tony was the first head coach to defeat all 32 NFL teams, amassing a 148-79-0 overall career record.

Donnie Shell was right.