Tony Dungy
Anthony Kevin "Tony" Dungy (born October 6, 1955 in Jackson , Michigan ) is an American former American football player and head coach in the National Football League (NFL).
From 1996 to 2001 he was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and from 2002 to 2009 head coach of the Indianapolis Colts . He is the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl and, after Mike Ditka and Tom Flores , only the 3rd head coach to win the Super Bowl both as a player and as a head coach. In 2016 he became a new member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame .
Early years
Dungy was born in Jackson , Michigan . His parents were both teachers. That is why, from an early age, they attached great importance to a good academic education for their son. Tony Dungy attended Parkside High School, where he played as a guard in basketball and as a quarterback in the American football team.
College career
Dungy was brought to the University of Minnesota by coach Cal Stoll and played for the university's team from 1973 to 1976 . In his first year, he started as a quarterback. After four years of college, he led the university's rankings in pass attempts (576), completed passes (274), touchdown passes (25) and yards passed (3,577). These top performances are still there today. In addition, he still occupies 4th place in the entire offensive in the Big Ten Conference . Tony Dungy received two Minnesota State MVP awards. In addition, Dungy played in his first year at university in the basketball team in the guard position. Here he was a teammate of the later head coach of the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Detroit Pistons , Flip Saunders .
Professional career
After college, Dungy became a free agent and joined the Pittsburgh Steelers . He played two seasons with the Steelers. At first he was just a substitute for Safety . Here he was part of the legendary Steelers dynasty, the "Steel Curtain". During the 1977/78 season, in which the Steelers could also win the Super Bowl, Dungy was the starter and had the most interceptions (6) in the Steelers team.
After the Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII (Dungy provoked a fumble that resulted in a touchdown for his team), he was transferred to the San Francisco 49ers for the next season . Here he only played one season, because at the beginning of the 1979/80 season he was again transferred to the New York Giants . But he injured himself in training camp and therefore resigned from professional football in the NFL.
In his three NFL seasons, Dungy posted nine interceptions that he carried back for 132 yards. He also secured nine fumbles for his team and carried eight punts back for a total of 52 yards. He was the first in the NFL to start as safety and then step in as quarterback. He was also the first to throw and catch an interception in a game. This happened when he was with the Steelers.
Coaching career
As assistant
After his resignation, Dungy was invited to join his old university, the University of Minnesota, as a coach of the defensive backs. Defensive backs are the cornerback and safety positions in American football . After a season he was employed again in the NFL and that with his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here he was assigned to coach the defensive backs by his old coach Chuck Noll . In 1984 Dungy was promoted to Defensive Coordinator. He was now solely responsible for the complete defense of the Steelers. In 1989 he left the Steelers and was again coach of the defensive backs with the Kansas City Chiefs . In 1992 he moved to the Minnesota Vikings to the position of Defensive Coordinator. During his time in Minnesota, the defense he oversaw was the best in the league.
As the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Dungy's dream came true when he was named head coach in 1996 by Rich McKay , then owner of the Buccaneers . The Buccaneers were quite unsuccessful at the time. 1997 Tony Dungy and his team reached 2nd place in the Central Division of the National Football Conference (NFC). This was Tampa Bay's first season with a positive win-loss ratio since 1982. In addition, they defeated the Detroit Lions in the first playoff round , but then had to admit defeat to the reigning champion Green Bay Packers in the second round .
During Dungy's tenure, the Buccaneers reached the playoffs three times and won their division in 1999 and only lost in the NFC Championship Game against the St. Louis Rams . Despite growing success with the team, Dungy was fired in 2001 due to repeated failures in the playoffs. Particularly noteworthy are the defeats in the 2000 and 2001 playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles . Another reason for his firing was that team management felt the cautious offensive Dungy was running was too inconsistent against NFL teams. In the next year, 2002, the Buccaneers defeated the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game and won the Super Bowl XXXVII under the new coach Jon Gruden with the team mostly composed by Dungy .
As the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts
On January 22, 2002, Dungy was hired as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts . The Colts were a team at that time that was very strong on the offensive with the quarterback receiver duo Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison , but very weak on the defensive. Immediately after joining the Colts, he played the Tampa 2 defense he had created when he was with the Buccaneers . Dungy left the strong offense built by Jim E. Mora unchanged. He was also able to work again with Tom Moore , with whom he was already successful in Minnesota and Pittsburgh. Moore was used as the offensive coordinator.
At the beginning of his tenure in Indianapolis Dungy struggled to consolidate the new defense, so he had mixed results in the playoffs. In its first season, the Colts lost in the 1st round 0:41 against the New York Jets . He also lost both 2003 (in the AFC Championship Game) and 2004 (in the 2nd round) against the New England Patriots . 2005 Dungy extended his contract by three years to five million US dollars per year.
After the 2004/2005 season, the Colts focused on improving their defense, and therefore signed the defensive tackle Corey Simon . The Colts started the season as contenders for the Super Bowl and also won their first 13 games. It was then speculated that the Colts could be the first team after the 1972 Miami Dolphins to end a season without loss.
With the thirteenth win in a row, the Colts secured home rights for all play-off games up to the Super Bowl. From now on it was only about the possibility of having a " perfect season " without defeat - the 14th game of the season was promptly lost against the San Diego Chargers . The Colts spared many regular players in the last two games to protect them from injuries. However, this had the consequence that the team lost their rhythm and was eliminated in the first play-off game against eventual champions Pittsburgh Steelers. This defeat made the Colts the first team ever to not reach the Super Bowl after a 13-0 start into the season.
In the 2006 playoffs, the Colts showed a significantly improved defensive performance and defeated the Kansas City Chiefs and the favored Baltimore Ravens . On January 21, the Colts beat the New England Patriots after they were already 3:21 behind.
On February 4, 2007, Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI 29:17 against Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, although they were already behind due to the kickoff return at the beginning of the game (92 yards ). This made Dungy the first African American to win a Super Bowl as head coach.
On January 13, 2009, he ended his career as head coach with the Colts and retired from active professional sports.
Web links
- Tony Dungy in nndb (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Feldmann: Legends - Coaches: Tony Dungy . bigplay.ch. June 8, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dungy, Tony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dungy, Anthony Kevin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player and coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jackson , Michigan |