Dungy and the Colts Both Needed a New Direction

Posted: Jan 13, 2009

A good thing happened in Indy on Monday – Tony Dungy retired from the NFL to spend more time with his family in Tampa Bay. It’s nice to see the veteran head coach pursue his dream of making a difference in his Florida community. Most stories that you will see this week will be about Dungy off the field-and he is an ultra-quality human being. I also believe that the move was good for the Colts, who may need a little different attitude to overcome the all-too-common result of flaming out early in the Playoffs.

Bob Kravitz nailed it a week ago–what many that closely follow the AFC South have been thinking for a couple of years- Tony Dungy needed to step down. It seems like an unusual sentiment for a well-liked coach with an excellent regular-season record, but for the Colts’ sake and for Dungy’s own mental health, it was time to go. Dungy constantly talked about his focus being on his hometown of Tampa and his work in the community. The NFL grind is tough enough as it is, and if your focus strays just the slightest, negative things can happen. It’s often said that when you talk about retirement, you’re already there. We’ve seen Brett Favre cause huge stress for multiple NFL teams with his back-and-forth thoughts on leaving the game, and Dungy had done the same in Indy for two years. There is nothing wrong with someone wanting to focus on their family, community, or being an author (3 books in two years). In fact, it’s probably a refreshing attitude, but the reality is that you owe the organization and fans your full attention.

On the field, the postseason flame-outs cannot be swept under the rug. Dungy came to Indy with the “regular season only” tag after struggling in the Playoffs with the Buccaneers. Of course, this rep was furthered when Tampa hired Jon Gruden, and he took the same squad to a Super Bowl Title in his first season. Overall, Dungy’s playoff record was 9-10, and his teams lost in the first round in 6 of 11 postseasons. Despite Dungy getting one Super Bowl win in 2006, the phrase “one ‘n Dungy” was being used way too frequently in Indianapolis, and the belief that he had ridden the MVP-arm of Peyton Manning to his success there was becoming prevalent. The defense, special teams, and the physical play needed to succeed year-in, year-out in the Playoffs were just missing too many times for the Colts, and the negative results followed.

Good luck to Dungy as he returns to our Swampland region to focus on his true calling. Some things are bigger than football, and he should do very well working in the community. As far as the Colts, I’m not sure how much things will improve as the team transitions to long-time Dungy assistant Jim Caldwell, who went 26-63 in his only stint (Wake Forest) as a head coach, but we will see. Nevertheless, it was good timing for both parties to move on with a new focus on their lofty goals.