Tony Dungy is on quite a run (1 Viewer)

[Ghost Rider]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:

-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)

-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons

-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)

-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons

-Has won a Super Bowl

-Has appeared in two other conference championship games

Pretty impressive, no?

 

[teamroc]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons-Has won a Super Bowl-Has appeared in two other conference championship gamesPretty impressive, no?

11 trips to the playoffs, 2 conference championship games? 2/11? No, not very impressive. Dungy was actually seen as a huge disappointment in the playoffs. He's basically Bobby Cox of football. And that's a mixed bag. Toss in the fact he's either had an elite defense, or top 3 QB of all time, he should probably have done more with what he had. I love Dungy, but he's the same as Bobby Cox. Even kneel, slow and steady. Which is great in the regular season, but in the playoffs, pressure on, his teams doesn’t take it up a notch. In fact Peyton is a lot worse in the playoffs. Anywho...Bilicek has been to the playoffs less times, and has 4 SB rings. That's impressive. =)

 

[FantasyTrader]

Hoss will be along shortly. Run teamroc.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I wasn't comparing him to Belichick. I was simply demonstrating that he has had quite a run, regardless of how much actual playoff success he has had.

Also, it is 2 OTHER conference championship games, which isn't counting the one he won in route to Indy's SB win two years ago, so he is actually 3/11 in that regard.

 

[teamroc]

I wasn't comparing him to Belichick. I was simply demonstrating that he has had quite a run, regardless of how much actual playoff success he has had. Also, it is 2 OTHER conference championship games, which isn't counting the one he won in route to Indy's SB win two years ago, so he is actually 3/11 in that regard.

Like you said, quite a run, despite his lack of playoff success. That pretty much sums it up.

 

[switz]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons-Has won a Super Bowl-Has appeared in two other conference championship gamesPretty impressive, no?

11 trips to the playoffs, 2 conference championship games? 2/11? No, not very impressive. Dungy was actually seen as a huge disappointment in the playoffs. He's basically Bobby Cox of football. And that's a mixed bag. Toss in the fact he's either had an elite defense, or top 3 QB of all time, he should probably have done more with what he had. I love Dungy, but he's the same as Bobby Cox. Even kneel, slow and steady. Which is great in the regular season, but in the playoffs, pressure on, his teams doesn’t take it up a notch. In fact Peyton is a lot worse in the playoffs. Anywho...Bilicek has been to the playoffs less times, and has 4 SB rings. That's impressive. =)

 

[zed2283]

Overrated.

 

[Chaka]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons-Has won a Super Bowl-Has appeared in two other conference championship gamesPretty impressive, no?

11 trips to the playoffs, 2 conference championship games? 2/11? No, not very impressive. Dungy was actually seen as a huge disappointment in the playoffs. He's basically Bobby Cox of football. And that's a mixed bag. Toss in the fact he's either had an elite defense, or top 3 QB of all time, he should probably have done more with what he had. I love Dungy, but he's the same as Bobby Cox. Even kneel, slow and steady. Which is great in the regular season, but in the playoffs, pressure on, his teams doesn't take it up a notch. In fact Peyton is a lot worse in the playoffs. Anywho...Bilicek has been to the playoffs less times, and has 4 SB rings. That's impressive. =)

Dungy has been to 3 conference championship games.Belichick has 3 Super Bowl rings*.ETA: * As a head coach.

 

[tribecalledjeff]

Overrated.

You would have done better, because you know not to rest starters in week 17

 

[teamroc]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons-Has won a Super Bowl-Has appeared in two other conference championship gamesPretty impressive, no?

11 trips to the playoffs, 2 conference championship games? 2/11? No, not very impressive. Dungy was actually seen as a huge disappointment in the playoffs. He's basically Bobby Cox of football. And that's a mixed bag. Toss in the fact he's either had an elite defense, or top 3 QB of all time, he should probably have done more with what he had. I love Dungy, but he's the same as Bobby Cox. Even kneel, slow and steady. Which is great in the regular season, but in the playoffs, pressure on, his teams doesn't take it up a notch. In fact Peyton is a lot worse in the playoffs. Anywho...Bilicek has been to the playoffs less times, and has 4 SB rings. That's impressive. =)

Dungy has been to 3 conference championship games.Belichick has 3 Super Bowl rings*.ETA: * As a head coach.

You are correct, and it doesn't change my point.

 

[The Man with the Plan]

Tony Dungy transformed the Tampa Bay franchise from less than nothing to a perennial playoff participant and afterwards made an underachieving Colts team a championship contender and eventual Super Bowl winner. More importantly he did it all with dignity and class. Truly one of the greatest coaches that the NFL has ever seen.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Tony Dungy transformed the Tampa Bay franchise from less than nothing to a perennial playoff participant

To me, that is still his most impressive achievement as an NFL head coach. The Tampa Bay Bucs were a joke before he got there. Prior to him coming there, they had won 58 games in their previous 13 seasons (an average of 4.4 wins a season). In his six years there, they won 54 games (an average of 9 games a season), and made the playoffs four times, including an appearance in the NFC title game in his fourth year. He completed change the makeup, mentality and expectations of an NFL franchise which had pretty much been a joke since entering the league in 1976. They didn't win the Super Bowl until after he was gone, but his fingerprints were all over that championship team.

 

[Chaka]

In 13 seasons as a head coach:-138-69 (winning percentage of .667)-His teams have made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons-His teams have made the playoffs 10 seasons in a row (and is still counting)-His teams have won 10 games or more in 10 of 13 seasons-Has won a Super Bowl-Has appeared in two other conference championship gamesPretty impressive, no?

11 trips to the playoffs, 2 conference championship games? 2/11? No, not very impressive. Dungy was actually seen as a huge disappointment in the playoffs. He's basically Bobby Cox of football. And that's a mixed bag. Toss in the fact he's either had an elite defense, or top 3 QB of all time, he should probably have done more with what he had. I love Dungy, but he's the same as Bobby Cox. Even kneel, slow and steady. Which is great in the regular season, but in the playoffs, pressure on, his teams doesn't take it up a notch. In fact Peyton is a lot worse in the playoffs. Anywho...Bilicek has been to the playoffs less times, and has 4 SB rings. That's impressive. =)

Dungy has been to 3 conference championship games.Belichick has 3 Super Bowl rings*.ETA: * As a head coach.

You are correct, and it doesn't change my point.

Yes it does.

 

[Chaka]

Tony Dungy transformed the Tampa Bay franchise from less than nothing to a perennial playoff participant

To me, that is still his most impressive achievement as an NFL head coach. The Tampa Bay Bucs were a joke before he got there. Prior to him coming there, they had won 58 games in their previous 13 seasons (an average of 4.4 wins a season). In his six years there, they won 54 games (an average of 9 games a season), and made the playoffs four times, including an appearance in the NFC title game in his fourth year. He completed change the makeup, mentality and expectations of an NFL franchise which had pretty much been a joke since entering the league in 1976. They didn't win the Super Bowl until after he was gone, but his fingerprints were all over that championship team.

With rookie Shaun King at QB. A game that they could/should have won but for a controversial call on a pass to Reidel Anthony. A call that precipitated a league rule change.Sure his record is not as impressive as Belichick but don't diminish the guy, he has been impressive as heck.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Tony Dungy will go 1st ballot HoF, book it.

You have a man that took a job that Parcells and numerous others turned down for one of the sorriest franchises in the history of the NFL, he then turned them into winners, but like anything folks wanted more and got tired of "just making the playoffs". He took a team with a rookie QB named Shaun King and went to the NFC Championship game where they had the "Greatest Show on Turf" in St Louis and had them going into the 4th quarter leading 6-5(yep)...they end up losing the game but Burt Emanuel's catch and subsequent incompletion ended up making a new rule about the ground not causing something...

So then he leaves the Bucs, they win the SB the next year with almost all of his players, then he enters Indy and starts a yearly tug of war with New England, who arguably are the best team of this decade. He suffers devastation in the form of his 18 year old son committing suicide, then 12 months later he makes it to the Super Bowl and wins.

There is no doubt he is going into the Hall of Fame, and while I don't think it should really matter, the fact he is African American and has done it in an era where they are far and few between, not to mention the man is total class, total character, and if he knocked on my door and said "MOP, c'mon we got work to do", I would drop everything and follow him. He is a leader of men, a leader in the community, and someone that a lot of people want to follow, it's that simple, and anyone who disagrees is either fishing, or has some grudge against the man.

One of the best coaches of all time.

 

[PewterFan]

One of the best coaches of all time.

An extremely great guy to boot.

 

[zed2283]

Hate to burst everyone's bubble and all the man love going around, but it was actually Sam Wyche who turned the Tampa franchise around. Dungy stepped into a great situation there just as he did in Indy, where his young star player was developing into one of the greatest QB's of all time. A huge part of Dungy's success has been in his timing.

Now look, I'm not saying the guy isn't a good coach, and I would probably take him as the coach on my team. But he is absolutely NOT one of the greatest coaches of all time. Take away his team's (who was known for underperforming and choking, SAME reason he got fired from Tampa) Super Bowl victory and you would be lumping him in with the Schottenheimers and Reids of the world. Do they belong in the Hall of Fame?

You do remember that it was Peyton Manning who had to send the punt team off the field to save his coaches ### right? A buddy of mine summed it up best when he said on 3rd-and-8 when Moore and Manning are busy coming up with a play, Dungy is wondering which hash mark he wants to kick the FG from. I realize that a Lombardi Trophy tends to cloud the memory a bit.

 

[Yitbos69]

Hate to burst everyone's bubble and all the man love going around, but it was actually Sam Wyche who turned the Tampa franchise around. Dungy stepped into a great situation there just as he did in Indy, where his young star player was developing into one of the greatest QB's of all time. A huge part of Dungy's success has been in his timing.Now look, I'm not saying the guy isn't a good coach, and I would probably take him as the coach on my team. But he is absolutely NOT one of the greatest coaches of all time. Take away his team's (who was known for underperforming and choking, SAME reason he got fired from Tampa) Super Bowl victory and you would be lumping him in with the Schottenheimers and Reids of the world. Do they belong in the Hall of Fame? You do remember that it was Peyton Manning who had to send the punt team off the field to save his coaches ### right? A buddy of mine summed it up best when he said on 3rd-and-8 when Moore and Manning are busy coming up with a play, Dungy is wondering which hash mark he wants to kick the FG from. I realize that a Lombardi Trophy tends to cloud the memory a bit.

HATER!

 

[Aaronl5]

I never liked the guy.

 

[-baller]

yeah, I wonder how well he'd do next year if he lost manning in game one.

 

[The Shizzle]

yeah, I wonder how well he'd do next year if he lost manning in game one.

Good point.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Hate to burst everyone's bubble and all the man love going around, but it was actually Sam Wyche who turned the Tampa franchise around. Dungy stepped into a great situation there just as he did in Indy, where his young star player was developing into one of the greatest QB's of all time. A huge part of Dungy's success has been in his timing.Now look, I'm not saying the guy isn't a good coach, and I would probably take him as the coach on my team. But he is absolutely NOT one of the greatest coaches of all time. Take away his team's (who was known for underperforming and choking, SAME reason he got fired from Tampa) Super Bowl victory and you would be lumping him in with the Schottenheimers and Reids of the world. Do they belong in the Hall of Fame? You do remember that it was Peyton Manning who had to send the punt team off the field to save his coaches ### right? A buddy of mine summed it up best when he said on 3rd-and-8 when Moore and Manning are busy coming up with a play, Dungy is wondering which hash mark he wants to kick the FG from. I realize that a Lombardi Trophy tends to cloud the memory a bit.

Do you know what the Bucs did under Sam Wyche his final year? They started 5 dash 2(Capella will get this joke as well as other Bucsfans), and they finished 7-9 IIRC...he posted 5-11, 5-11, 6-10, and 7-9 seasons while there...23-41 while in Tampa, yeah he paved the way for greatness, simply ludicrous to even try and inject that as a way to put Dungy down. Dungy has a career record of soemthing close to 138-65...you really think he just walked into these situations? No one wanted the Bucs job in 1996...and all the Bucs that went on to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, almost all of them were drafted while Dungy was there, and or FA that were signed under him...GRUDEN is the guy that walked into a terrific situation and won a Super Bowl...you have your coaches confused.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Do you know what the Bucs did under Sam Wyche his final year? They started 5 dash 2(Capella will get this joke as well as other Bucsfans), and they finished 7-9 IIRC...he posted 5-11, 5-11, 6-10, and 7-9 seasons while there...23-41 while in Tampa, yeah he paved the way for greatness, simply ludicrous to even try and inject that as a way to put Dungy down. Dungy has a career record of soemthing close to 138-65...you really think he just walked into these situations? No one wanted the Bucs job in 1996...and all the Bucs that went on to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, almost all of them were drafted while Dungy was there, and or FA that were signed under him...GRUDEN is the guy that walked into a terrific situation and won a Super Bowl...you have your coaches confused.

Also, the "take away his Super Bowl win and yada, yada, yada" argument is always a stupid one. Super Bowl wins are often what define greatness, so you cannot just take them away, like they never happened. Tony Dungy coached his team to a Super Bowl victory. It happened. Therefore, it is extremely relevant.

 

[MDSkinner]

I am guessing anyone who thinks Dungy is overrated would almost have to be a Pats fan. The only reason I say that is because outside of the Pats virtually every other franchise would kill for the level of play that Dungy teams have shown. People can make the Super Bowl argument, and it is perfectly legit but with Dungy every single one of his teams has at least been in the Super Bowl conversation pretty much every year. What more can you want from a team? Sure, it would be nice to win the Super Bowl every year, but that is an absurd expectation that really only Pats fans can have at this stage of the game (or Dallas back in the 90's or 9ers back in the 80's).

 

[CrossEyed]

Tony Dungy will go 1st ballot HoF, book it. You have a man that took a job that Parcells and numerous others turned down for one of the sorriest franchises in the history of the NFL, he then turned them into winners, but like anything folks wanted more and got tired of "just making the playoffs". He took a team with a rookie QB named Shaun King and went to the NFC Championship game where they had the "Greatest Show on Turf" in St Louis and had them going into the 4th quarter leading 6-5(yep)...they end up losing the game but Burt Emanuel's catch and subsequent incompletion ended up making a new rule about the ground not causing something...So then he leaves the Bucs, they win the SB the next year with almost all of his players, then he enters Indy and starts a yearly tug of war with New England, who arguably are the best team of this decade. He suffers devastation in the form of his 18 year old son committing suicide, then 12 months later he makes it to the Super Bowl and wins. There is no doubt he is going into the Hall of Fame, and while I don't think it should really matter, the fact he is African American and has done it in an era where they are far and few between, not to mention the man is total class, total character, and if he knocked on my door and said "MOP, c'mon we got work to do", I would drop everything and follow him. He is a leader of men, a leader in the community, and someone that a lot of people want to follow, it's that simple, and anyone who disagrees is either fishing, or has some grudge against the man. One of the best coaches of all time.

 

[zed2283]

Hate to burst everyone's bubble and all the man love going around, but it was actually Sam Wyche who turned the Tampa franchise around. Dungy stepped into a great situation there just as he did in Indy, where his young star player was developing into one of the greatest QB's of all time. A huge part of Dungy's success has been in his timing.Now look, I'm not saying the guy isn't a good coach, and I would probably take him as the coach on my team. But he is absolutely NOT one of the greatest coaches of all time. Take away his team's (who was known for underperforming and choking, SAME reason he got fired from Tampa) Super Bowl victory and you would be lumping him in with the Schottenheimers and Reids of the world. Do they belong in the Hall of Fame? You do remember that it was Peyton Manning who had to send the punt team off the field to save his coaches ### right? A buddy of mine summed it up best when he said on 3rd-and-8 when Moore and Manning are busy coming up with a play, Dungy is wondering which hash mark he wants to kick the FG from. I realize that a Lombardi Trophy tends to cloud the memory a bit.

Do you know what the Bucs did under Sam Wyche his final year? They started 5 dash 2(Capella will get this joke as well as other Bucsfans), and they finished 7-9 IIRC...he posted 5-11, 5-11, 6-10, and 7-9 seasons while there...23-41 while in Tampa, yeah he paved the way for greatness, simply ludicrous to even try and inject that as a way to put Dungy down. Dungy has a career record of soemthing close to 138-65...you really think he just walked into these situations? No one wanted the Bucs job in 1996...and all the Bucs that went on to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, almost all of them were drafted while Dungy was there, and or FA that were signed under him...GRUDEN is the guy that walked into a terrific situation and won a Super Bowl...you have your coaches confused.

I agree that Gruden walked into a great situation as well. But it's inaccurate to imply that Dungy re-built the Bucs from the ground up. If anyone thinks that the Bucs would have won a Super Bowl if Dungy had stayed, your emotions are clouding your judgement.ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

 

[ultramattman]

Take away his team's...Super Bowl victory and you would be lumping him in with the Schottenheimers and Reids of the world. Do they belong in the Hall of Fame?

If Schottenheimer or Reid had a Superbowl win, wouldn't their Hall of Fame case be a lot more convincing? Schott in particular would be a near-lock for the HOF with a championship under his belt.

 

[Ghost Rider]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

U sure? I mean gruden won in Oakland...... OAKLAND!!!!

 

[Chaka]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

Never let it be said that you didn't take enough time to formulate your response.

 

[Ghost Rider]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

Never let it be said that you didn't take enough time to formulate your response.

Yeah, I had to think about it for, oh, 11 months or so. In reality, I was searching for another old thread and ran across this one.

 

[Sheriff Harry Lee]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

Never let it be said that you didn't take enough time to formulate your response.

Yeah, I had to think about it for, oh, 11 months or so. In reality, I was searching for another old thread and ran across this one.

Tony Dungy is the Barack Obama of NFL coaches, and he's now freed up to be even more of a politician. Seems to be a good Christian man for the most part, but that could easily be part of the act, too.

 

[kaa]

Dungy cemented his legacy by losing to the Chargers in the playoffs in 2008. I mean just about everyone picked the Colts to dominate that playoff game. 2006 was an aberration. Dungy is not a great coach. His playoff record is too poor to be ignored. If the hall of fame is your thing, in no way should he be first ballot. I guess maybe let him in as a compiler at some point.

 

[kaa]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

U sure? I mean gruden won in Oakland...... OAKLAND!!!!

Good point. Gruden is the only coach to win in Oakland in the last 20 years or so. Dungy arguably was blessed to lean on Peyton Manning. I could give the nod to Gruden here just because he did more with less.

 

[urbanhack]

Dungy cemented his legacy by losing to the Chargers in the playoffs in 2008.

 

[thehornet]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

 

[SSOG]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

 

[thehornet]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

54-42 with TB - 85-27 with Peyton - & Suberbowl WinnerNough said.

 

[SSOG]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

54-42 with TB - 85-27 with Peyton - & Suberbowl WinnerNough said.

You're right, enough said- those results as SPECTACULARLY good, and really demonstrate what an amazing coach Dungy is. That's a 56% winning clip with terrible QBs on a historically awful team, and a 76% winning clip with a HoFer at QB.I mean, if Dungy wasn't such a great coach, he might have only put up a 46% winning percentage in games where he didn't start a future HoFer at QB. You know, kind of like Bill Belichick has done for his career.

 

[thehornet]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

54-42 with TB - 85-27 with Peyton - & Suberbowl WinnerNough said.

You're right, enough said- those results as SPECTACULARLY good, and really demonstrate what an amazing coach Dungy is. That's a 56% winning clip with terrible QBs on a historically awful team, and a 76% winning clip with a HoFer at QB.I mean, if Dungy wasn't such a great coach, he might have only put up a 46% winning percentage in games where he didn't start a future HoFer at QB. You know, kind of like Bill Belichick has done for his career.

You are trying to swing the debate. Dungy is a good coach. Very good even. I reserve greatness for a very small group.Something else I consider is longevity.

 

[thatguy]

There is no one in or associated with the NFL who I respect more than Tony Dungy. What's not to love about the guy?

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

There are coaches who can win Super Bowls with starting QBs like Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer.

 

[SSOG]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

54-42 with TB - 85-27 with Peyton - & Suberbowl WinnerNough said.

You're right, enough said- those results as SPECTACULARLY good, and really demonstrate what an amazing coach Dungy is. That's a 56% winning clip with terrible QBs on a historically awful team, and a 76% winning clip with a HoFer at QB.I mean, if Dungy wasn't such a great coach, he might have only put up a 46% winning percentage in games where he didn't start a future HoFer at QB. You know, kind of like Bill Belichick has done for his career.

You are trying to swing the debate. Dungy is a good coach. Very good even. I reserve greatness for a very small group.Something else I consider is longevity.

I'm not trying to swing the debate in the slightest, you were just using an absurd criterion in an attempt to denigrate Dungy. If you don't think he's a great coach, then you don't think he's a great coach. I don't have a problem with that, although I strongly disagree. What I have a problem with is posting his record with TB and contrasting it to his record with Peyton Manning, then simply posting "enough said" as if those particular statistics mean anything.Tony Dungy has benefited from playing with a first ballot hall of famer, no question... but if you're saying he's not a great coach because of his record without that first ballot hall of famer (which is what "nough said" implies- that that one statistic closes the book on the debate), then I'm going to call you out and say that, by that measure, Belichick is a TERRIBLE coach, because he has a losing career record in games not started by a first ballot HoFer. And Belichick's non-Brady QBs were far better than Dungy's non-Manning QBs.Besides, for all the talk about how much Dungy benefited from playing with Manning, what was Manning's record without Dungy? Peyton Manning had a .500 career winning percentage before Dungy came to town.In my book, Tony Dungy was a phenomenal coach, one of the best coaches in NFL history. Yes, that means even better than Bill Belichick. He has the best career winning% of any coach whose career began after 1970, with .668. The only coaches who come within 4% are Red Miller (who coached for 4 years) and George Seifert (whose claim to fame was inheriting Bill Walsh's juggernaut and managing to not screw it up). He took over the worst franchise in the history of the NFL and turned it into an NFL power and superbowl champion. He took over a mediocre NFL team and posted arguably the most dominant sustained stretch in NFL history (6 straight 12-win seasons). And he did it all with class, bereft of any shady practices or even the slightest hint of scandal.In 13 seasons, Tony Dungy had a losing record once, in his first season in Tampa. He went 6-10, which was actually the 4th best season in the 21 year history of the Bucs. Dungy also went 8-8 once, and 9-7 once. Other than that, he had TEN seasons of 10+ wins. That's double-digit wins 77% of the time. That's an unimpeachable track record of success.I think people forget how historically awful the Bucs were, and therefore don't realize what an absurd accomplishment posting a 56% winning percentage there really is. Even with the SB title and the Dungy years, the Bucs have the second worst franchise winning percentage in NFL history (ahead only of the Texans). The Bucs have a worse winning percentage than the Falcons, who have never in their history posted back-to-back winning seasons. They have a worse winning percentage than the Saints, who didn't win a single playoff game until the 34th year of the franchise's existence. They have a worse winning percentage than the Cards, Lions, or Bengals. In fact, if you take out the Dungy years, the Bucs have a worse franchise winning percentage even than the Houston Texans, who have never had a winning season in their history. Dungy going 54-42, going to an NFC Championship game, and building the team into a Superbowl Champion was one of the greatest coaching jobs in recent NFL history. His coaching job in Indy is really just the icing on the cake.

 

[junation]

ETA: Where do you guys rank Gruden vs. Dungy?

Dungy is/was quite obviously the better coach.

Never let it be said that you didn't take enough time to formulate your response.

Yeah, I had to think about it for, oh, 11 months or so. In reality, I was searching for another old thread and ran across this one.

Tony Dungy is the Barack Obama of NFL coaches, and he's now freed up to be even more of a politician. Seems to be a good Christian man for the most part, but that could easily be part of the act, too.

That type of comment has "Written by a loser with a beer gut" all over it.

 

[teamroc]

pretty easy to look great when you Peyton as your QB. Good coach, sure. Great coach, not even close.

How about when you have Brad Johnson and Shaun King as your QBs? How easy is it to look great, then?

54-42 with TB - 85-27 with Peyton - & Suberbowl WinnerNough said.

You're right, enough said- those results as SPECTACULARLY good, and really demonstrate what an amazing coach Dungy is. That's a 56% winning clip with terrible QBs on a historically awful team, and a 76% winning clip with a HoFer at QB.I mean, if Dungy wasn't such a great coach, he might have only put up a 46% winning percentage in games where he didn't start a future HoFer at QB. You know, kind of like Bill Belichick has done for his career.

The "awful team" had a HOF defense. They'll have someone in the hall from each level of that defense. And that "historically awful team" won the SB after he left. He's not a great coach. He used to shut everyone down around week 16 to "rest" for the playoffs. And of course the Colts would normally choke in the playoffs and be playing golf long before the SB came around. Funny how the Giants played against the Pats like it was a playoff game during the 16-0 run, and they carried that into the playoffs and won the SB. The Giants even credit that game to being a big part of them winning it all. Yes he helped turn around TB. That's why he's a very good coach. But he went to 0 SBs with a HOF D (a team clearly good enough to go - as they did the very next year), and 1 SB with maybe the best QB of all time. He's the Bobby Cox of the NFL. Great numbers, until you hit the playoffs. So if Dungy is great, what is Belichick? Godly?

 

[teamroc]

Besides, for all the talk about how much Dungy benefited from playing with Manning, what was Manning's record without Dungy? Peyton Manning had a .500 career winning percentage before Dungy came to town.

Since he left, Manning hasn't lost a game. So how much of Manning's career do you credit to Dungy? Without Dungy would Manning still have a .500 winning percentage?

 

[David Dodds]

I think the mark of a truly great manager (regardless of profession) is how well that organization succeeds AFTER the person leaves. Obviously, Dungy gets high marks here as well.

 

[FUBAR]

I think the mark of a truly great manager (regardless of profession) is how well that organization succeeds AFTER the person leaves. Obviously, Dungy gets high marks here as well.

it certainly indicates an ability to train, coach and mentor. It doesn't surprise me at all that Dungy left a good team intact with good leadership whereas some other great coaches have failed to do so.Seeing as people like to compare the 2, how have Belichick's former coordinators done? He has at least 2 failures, McDaniels started strong but is 0-4 this month and got blown out by Washington.

 

[runner06]

Can't Dungy and Belichick both be great coaches?

 

[kerpow]

Besides, for all the talk about how much Dungy benefited from playing with Manning, what was Manning's record without Dungy? Peyton Manning had a .500 career winning percentage before Dungy came to town.

Since he left, Manning hasn't lost a game. So how much of Manning's career do you credit to Dungy? Without Dungy would Manning still have a .500 winning percentage?

As a Colts fan its a fair point. In my mind, if the Colts make it to the AFC Championship Game this season you'd have a hard time arguing what a wonderful coach Dungy was. And you can't really credit Dungy for putting the Colts team togther, the coaching staff and players (through the draft) were overseen by Polian.Dungy = nice guy, had great belief in his players, but no tactical genius that puts him way above many other coaches in the league.