Father Dungy Lurking?
December 18th, 2009
Despite zero evidence, Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network has the hunch that Father Dungy may just be the coach of the Bucs next season.
Howard, Germany
With the coaching carrousel starting up, what jobs (if any) are being discussed under the radar?Jason La Canfora, NFL Network
Thanks for checking in from Germany. Love your country. Covering the World Cup there in 2006 was a highlight of my career. Keep an eye on Tampa. Things could get interesting there. Some people still beleive Tony Dungy might come in and save the day. Raheem Morris made some weird comments lately. Maybe he’s better fit to be a coordinator. If that job opened up Bill Cowher would be a name to watch as well, but Dungy would make a lot of sense. I know he’s said he isn’t interested in coaching, but he lives down there, maybe has unfinished business there, could find some role in that organization to stablilize things even if it isn’t as head coach.
Look, Joe would just wish the Dungyphiles forget about Father Dungy here in the Tampa Bay area. He quit coaching, and he didn’t get the job done when he was here. Turn the page people.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Couldn’t agree more. I love Tony Dungy and think he’s a great man and coach, but he’s time here is done.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Not to take anything away from Dungy, but isn’t it kind of interesting the parallels between what the Bucs accomplished the year after he was fired (won Superbowl) and what’s happening this year with the Colts (undefeated and likely Superbowl bound). Dungy finally got a Superbowl, but with the teams he had, he probably should have gotten his teams there more often.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Louis:
Post of the day!
December 18th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I actually like the idea of bringing Dungy back on a 3/4-year deal. Let’s be realistic, this team is not winning the SB in the next couple of years, but does need a HC that can stabilize the situation. I posted a few weeks ago that I liked the idea of bringing Dungy in, because I think Rah could actually be a decent HC in the future, but he’s obviously not ready yet. I think Dungy is the one guy that could come in and Raheem would be willing to take a step down to DC/Asst. HC. I also think the team would accept and back Dungy as well, without causing a major disruption/split in the locker room.
It would provide Raheem the opportunity to learn the ropes, which is something he hasn’t really had the oppt. to do with his limited resume. Depending on the teams performance at the end of Dungy’s deal, either promote Raheem, extend Dungy, or go in a different direction. I think it could work, and would give the Glazer’s the time to see if Rah is capable of being a DC first, and then consider him to be the HC (which should have been done in the first place).
December 18th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
What is this obsession with Dungy in this town?? The man did good things while he was here but couldn’t get the Bucs over the hump. In his last 3 years here he went 11-5, 10-6 and 9-7..Notice a trend in those records? I think we all saw the Monte Kiffin was the true defensive mastermind, not Dungy. Here is something for for Dungy fans to chew on: in the 7 years Dungy was in Indy they had 2 seasons in which the defense was in the top 10 in the league in total defense. (2002 8th and 2007 3rd ). During that same time the Bucs had 1 year in which they were NOT in the top 10 (2006 17th), including 2 years at #1 and 5 years in the top 5. The Bucs D was ranked higher than Indy every single year during his tenure with the Colts. Do we really want a “defensive genius” who can’t get his defense in the top third of the league on a regular basis as our head coach?
December 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Bil, I don’t think there is as much of an obsession locally with Dungy as you may think. I think most people understand that, while Tony did help get the franchise turned around in a positive direction, he wasn’t able to finish the job once he got his teams into the playoffs.
My thinking in the post above is, if the Glazers are reluctant to replace Morris before he can realize the potential they must see in him, Dungy would be one of the few guys the team could bring in that Morris might be willing to take a step back for to DC/Asst. HC in order to develop the skills needed to be a HC in NFL.
Obviously, no one but the Glazers have an idea how the end of this season will play out (at least I HOPE they do). Should be an interesting off-season.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Do it!!!
Dungy – HC
Morris – DC
Weis – OC
Then draft Suh……get 2 or 3 QUALITY free agents….keep the
good players we already have….
…and all will be forgiven
December 18th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I would take Dungy, Cower, hell I would take Joe as our coach just get rid of RAH PLEASE!!!
December 18th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Didn’t get the job done here? Sh*t, this is the man who got your team to respectability. Any of you remember what it was before Dungy. Gruden took most of his team to the Superbowl and instantly he is not worthy. What is it with you guys not giving people credit. Nobody here is qualified to be a head coach, not me, not you, I am absolutely confident that is a fact. We are all blowhards including the bloggers. There is a good reason why Dungy is an NFL coach and the rest of us here are just building or visiting blogsites to whine about how we can do a better job. But for freakin sake, I don’t care if it’s your boyfriend Cowher or whoever you guys are having wet dreams about, I just hope it is someone qualified.
Dungy would make a great choice to build this team up again. Cowher, Philips, and Shanahan will be too, they have proven it. I just don’t figure it, I’m not expecting you guys to kiss his arse, but at least give the man credit for building a championship team to what was the NFL doormat for many many years.
Geez, and the excuse for not bashing Raheem, who is obviously not qualified from the get go, is that he is a “nice guy.” Give me a break.
December 19th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Dungy did take the team to respectability and should get credit for that. But he never could get the team over the hump. They almost made the SB after the ’99 season and then they went backwards. I truly don’t think the Bucs win the SB if Dungy would have stayed. Dungy reminds me of John Madden as a coach. They both had many great teams, but they only have 1 SB rings each to show for it. Without Tom Moore and Peyton Manning, Dungy would have 0 SB rings. Don’t get me wrong, Dungy was a good head coach, but I always felt he was a tad overrated.