Tony Dungy is the Man

By now most everyone knows that Tony Dungy will be back as coach of the Indianapolis Colts. This pleases me. Dungy is a great football coach (as well as a stand up guy). But mostly...he knows how to win football games.

Now I know...after the Chargers loss...that there was a feeling among some Colts fans that if Dungy left that it wasn't going to be that bad for the team. From their perspective they respect what Dungy brought to the organization and city but if he chose to leave they weren't going to be that upset mainly because Dungy does have his fair share of playoff disappointment. I'll concede that there has been some gut-wrenching playoff losses. The 2005 loss to the Steelers and this year's loss to the Charges are hard to swallow because in both instances the Colts had a first round bye and home field advantage. But one can't overlook the fact that Dungy and Colts did win a Super Bowl. More importantly with Dungy at the helm (and Manning under center) the Colts are always going to be in playoff contention. With Dungy's coaching ability and with the personal on the team the Colts are going to be in position to make a Super Bowl run year-after- year. I think that's really all one can ask for. You have to be in position (make the playoffs) to make a run. Because in a lot of ways...I see the NFL playoffs as almost like the MLB playoffs in that it's almost a crap shoot. The '05 Steelers came out of nowhere. The Colts came out of nowhere. Not many people gave this year's Giants much of chance to do anything in the playoffs.

But it seems not everyone is convinced that having Dungy back is the best idea. Indy Star sports columnist, Bob Kravitz, gives his usual (muck-raking) take that Dungy is being somewhat of a hypocrite by putting football above family (whereas he preaches to put family first). On the surface I see what he is saying... but he's completely off base. Kravtiz mentions that Dungy has the financial freedom to spend all his free time with his family and that he doesn't need football. That's true...but what kind of example is that. The fact is...that most...I would say 99% of men have to work to support their families. This to me seems pretty basic. For the most part the men that Dungy is inspiring are fellow football players who are away from their family a lot of times. So what Dungy is showing is that a man can work...be away from their family and still be a quality father. He is leading by example... by showing that it can be done...that one can be a quality father while having a time-consuming job. So what's so bad about that Kravitz.

For a more well-rounded take of Dungy's decision to stay, read Len Pasquarelli's column on espn.com.