Tony Dungy
Head Coach - NFLIndianapolis Colts
Tony Dungy enters his sixth season as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Dungy took the helm of the club on January 22, 2002, after serving six seasons with Tampa Bay. Dungy has directed the Colts to a 60-20 regular-season record, five playoff appearances, four AFC South titles, two AFC Championship game appearances and to a 29-17 victory over Chicago in Super Bowl XLI. The club earned its fourth World Championship this past February, the first title game appearance by the franchise in 36 years.
Dungy joined the Colts after being the most successful head coach in Tampa Bay history. Dungy coached the Buccaneers from 1996-01, compiling a 54-42 regular-season record and earning four playoff appearances. In the 10 seasons before Dungy’s arrival, the Buccaneers were 43-111 with nine double-digit loss seasons.
Indianapolis was 10-6 in Dungy’s initial season, and he guided the Colts to 12-4, 12-4, 14-2 and 12-4 division-winning seasons from 2003-06. The club’s four-year streak of division championships is unprecedented in franchise history. In 2006, Indianapolis produced its fourth consecutive season with at least 12 wins, an accomplishment achieved only one other time in NFL history (1992-95, Dallas).
Dungy will mark his 12th season as an NFL head coach in 2007. He has taken nine of his previous eleven teams to the playoffs. Dungy’s coaching excellence is illustrated by his career regular-season record of 114-62 and his overall mark of 123-70. Dungy became the 35th coach in NFL history to earn 100 career victories with a 38-20 win at Houston on October 23, 2005. Dungy became the 20th coach since entering the league in 1970 to win 100 career games. Of those 20, only George Seifert (132), Joe Gibbs (148), Mike Ditka (151), Mike Holmgren (160) and Mike Shanahan (161) reached 100 career wins faster than Dungy’s pace of 163 games.
Dungy recorded his 100th regular-season victory vs. Tennessee on December 4, 2005. He is only the 6th coach to win 100+ regular-season games in the first 10 years as a head coach (113, Seifert; 105, Don Shula; 103, John Madden; 102, Dungy; 101, Gibbs; 101, Ditka). Dungy owns a 90-38 regular-season mark since the start of the 1999 season (30-18 at Tampa Bay; 60-20 with Colts), and he is the NFL’s winningest coach during that span.
Dungy enters 2007 with a .648 regular-season winning percentage, the best among active NFL coaches with 50+ regular-season victories. Dungy became the 42nd coach to guide a club to a Super Bowl appearance, and he stands as the 19th to win the Super Bowl in an initial appearance. He joins Ditka and Tom Flores as the only individuals to win the Super Bowl as a player and head coach.
Dungy has 67 overall victories with the Colts, ranking behind Shula (73) and Marchibroda (73) in club history. Dungy has eight career double-digit victory seasons (11-5, 1999; 10-6, 1997; 10-6, 2000 with Tampa Bay; 14-2, 2005; 12-4, 2003; 12-4, 2004; 12-4, 2006; 10-6, 2002 with Colts) and stands as the first head coach to defeat all 32 NFL teams. The Colts have produced an NFL-best 89-39 regular-season record since 1999. The Colts are the only team to qualify for post-season play seven times in the last eight seasons. Indianapolis has won the AFC South four consecutive seasons, and the Colts have owned or shared the division lead in 78 of 85 weeks of AFC South existence.
The Colts are the 14th team since the 1970 Merger to win four or more consecutive division titles. The club’s undefeated home record in 2006 marked only the second time it has been accomplished in Colts history (1958). Dungy (1999-06) has earned eight consecutive playoff appearances (1999-01 at Tampa Bay; 2002-06 with Colts), ranking only behind Tom Landry (9, Dallas, 1975-83), while being tied with Chuck Noll (8, Pittsburgh, 1972-79), for the most consecutive playoff appearances by NFL coaches since 1970. The Colts have an overall record of 57-17 since the start of the 2003 season and are 43-12 since 2004. Under Dungy, the Colts are 32-8 at home and 28-12 on the road during the regular season. The 2005-06 Colts won 30 overall games, the best two-season total in club history, topping 27 games won by the 2003-04 and 2004-05 clubs.
Dungy, 51, has led a revival of the club during the past five seasons. Indianapolis owns triumphs in 34 of its last 41 regular-season games. In 2006, Dungy became the first Colts head coach to earn five consecutive double-digit victory seasons. Indianapolis also became the only NFL team to open consecutive seasons with 9-0 records. The Colts set the franchise seasonal record for victories in 2005 (13, 1968, 1999). The club’s 14-2 record ranked among the best winning categories in the NFL’s 87-year history. Indianapolis was one game off the highest seasonal total for wins (15, San Francisco, 1984; Chicago, 1985; Minnesota, 1998; Pittsburgh, 2004), while joining 17 other teams that earned 14 wins in a season. The club’s 13 consecutive games won in a season fell one game shy of tying Miami (1972) and Pittsburgh (2004) for the longest streaks in NFL history, while the club matched the total of 13 by Chicago (1934) and Denver (1998). Indianapolis fell shy of joining Miami (1972) as the only teams to win 14 consecutive games to start a season.
In 2006, the Colts opened 9-0 (becoming the only team to have consecutive 9-0 starts), earned a perfect home record, captured a fourth consecutive division championship and won four playoff games in earning the Super Bowl XLI crown. In 2005, the Colts set a league seasonal record by winning 13 consecutive games by a margin of seven or more points. The previous record in that category was eleven games by Chicago in 1942. Indianapolis held six opponents to single-digit point totals, and the club became only the 6th post World War II era NFL team to open the season by holding three consecutive opponents in single digits. Indianapolis joined the 1952 New York Giants, 1962 and 2001 Green Bay Packers, 1980 Philadelphia Eagles and 2004 Seattle Seahawks in accomplishing the feat during that era. The club ranked second in NFL scoring offense and defense. The 247 points surrendered marked the lowest 16-game seasonal total in club history, and the offense retained its stature as one of the most prolific in the NFL.
While with the Buccaneers, Dungy was active in the community, working as a public speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action. He launched Mentors for Life, a program that provided tickets to Buccaneers home games to area youth and their mentors. He also was a supporter of children’s charitable programs such as Family First, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Prison Crusade Ministry and foster parenting organizations. His wife, Lauren, volunteered at The Spring, a shelter for abused women and children, and the First Baptist Church of College Hill lunch program. Their voluminous community works continue in Indianapolis. Dungy helped implement a local Baskets of Hope program that benefits Riley Hospital for Children. He teamed with others in assisting All-Pro Dad, a family-based organization, and he was a spokesman for Arby’s Combo to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Club.
Dungy’s reach throughout the area include works and appearances with the Black Coaches Association National Convention and Indiana Black Expo. He participates frequently in speaking appearances at area faith-based events and family football clinics. Lauren serves on the Executive Board of the Colts Women’s Organization. The organization’s wide-ranging activities include the ‘Race for Cure’ that addresses the fight against breast cancer. The group reads at Indianapolis Public Schools, visits local and regional child care facilities, plans fashion shows and participates in other charitable fund-raising initiatives. She also is involved in speaking at areas churches and women’s events, as well as visiting children at Riley Hospital with Baskets of Hope. Both Tony and Lauren raise funds for the Indianapolis Chapter of the Carson Scholars Fund and the Wilbur Dungy Endowed Chair in Jackson, Michigan.
Born Anthony Kevin Dungy on October 6, 1955, in Jackson, Mich., Dungy graduated from Parkside High School in Jackson. Tony and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of six children, daughters Tiara and Jade, and sons, Eric, Jordan and Justin, and the late James Dungy.
