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Dungy's Coming Home

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By JOE HENDERSON

jhenderson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 13, 2009

Somewhere in our city there is a guy who doesn't realize how his life changed for the better late Monday afternoon.

He might be overwhelmed by his responsibility as a father. He could even be sitting in a jail cell. Either way, he needs an outstretched hand. He is about to receive it.

He is about to hear a voice assure him that he, too, has worth.

Tony Dungy quit his job as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and is coming home to Tampa to help those who need it most. The headlines will say that Indianapolis lost a top football coach, but Tampa gained a friend. He will visit prisons, work with fathers, and be a force for good in a turbulent time.

"Even though he is walking away from the sideline, he is not walking away from the world of coaching," said Mark Merrill, head of All Pro Dad - a Tampa-based organization for which Dungy volunteers.

"The only difference is, now he'll be coaching fathers, reaching out to prisoners, giving them the tools they need to become men of character."

Dungy always has used his fame as a football coach to advance ideals of responsibility and parental involvement, and the message has been well-received. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired him as head coach seven years ago, but he kept his home here and remains revered for reasons that have nothing to do with football.

"You want that man in your community," said former Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli, who was Dungy's defensive line coach for six seasons with the Bucs. "He makes that area better just by who he is and what he stands for. It's definitely Tampa Bay's gain today."

Place In History Is Secure

Dungy will leave as one of the most accomplished coaches in National Football League history. He was 139-69 in the regular season, a .668 winning percentage that ranks seventh among coaches with at least 100 games. He is the first coach in league history to reach the playoffs in 10 consecutive years.

And, of course, on a rainy night two years ago in Miami, Dungy became the first African-American to coach a team to the Super Bowl championship. Tampa celebrated with him that night, just as it grieved with him on that awful day in December 2005 when his oldest son, James, committed suicide.

His book, "Quiet Strength," rose to No. 1 on the bestseller list. He used that book to further spread the gospel of decency, responsibility, faith and character.

"I just got a letter Friday from an inmate at the North Florida Correctional Institution who spoke to the impact Tony had on him," said Jeffrey Singletary, pastor at Central Tampa Baptist Church and a close friend of Dungy's.

"I don't know if he had heard Tony speak during a prison visit or had read his book, but the message, however he received it, had caused that man to turn his life around."

Dungy almost quit last season, but the Colts worked out a compromise. They gave him use of the team plane to fly to Tampa during the high school football season so he could watch his son, Eric, play for the state champion Plant Panthers. His son will be a senior next season, a major factor in Dungy's decision to leave Indy now.

"We just felt this was the right time," Dungy said at his news conference in Indianapolis. "Don't shed any tears for me. I got to live a dream most people don't get to live."

He spent 13 seasons as a head coach, a profession that demands complete dedication. Dungy simply had too many other things he believed he needed to do.

"I ask you, how many men do you know with the status he has that are willing to go see nobodies?" asked Abe Brown, Dungy's longtime friend and partner in prison ministry.

A Man For Everybody

The world opens up now in ways it couldn't before. Dungy will be free to say "yes" to someone in need instead of worrying about planning for a football game. He might write another book. There is a desk waiting for him at the All Pro Dad office near West Shore in Tampa. He likely will travel to chapters across the country.

"I know he has a heart to do a lot of different things," Singletary said. "He is an ambassador for the hurting, the hungry, and the disenfranchised."

A lot of tributes are being given to Tony Dungy today and he deserves them all for showing that a coach doesn't have to act like a madman to get results. His greatest impact is likely yet to come, though, in ways we can't yet imagine.

Singletary was asked just what it is about this man that makes people react to him the way they do. He paused, pondered, and then finally spoke the words.

"I can't say it any better than he already has," Singletary said. "There is a quiet strength about Tony Dungy. To be around him, you sense that. He just has a way of communicating that, touching lives, and letting people know that everything is going to be all right."

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