BY IRA KAUFMAN

It’s right there on page 27 of the current NFL Record and Fact Book.

That’s where you’ll find a list of the 46 coaches in league history with at least 100 wins, including the postseason.

Guess who closes out the very bottom of that list? That would be Jon Gruden, with a career record of 100-85.

Tony Dungy stands right in the middle with 148 career victories. But in terms of career winning percentage, only six men rank higher than the Ring of Honor coach who needed just nine games to transform the Bucs from a national punch line to a franchise on the rise.

The six coaches ahead of Dungy are Vince Lombardi, John Madden, George Allen, Bill Belichick, George Halas and Don Shula. That’s five guys with busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and one active coach already assured of a place in Canton.

Yet you don’t have to venture very far on the streets of Tampa to find someone who questions Dungy’s Hall of Fame credentials.

I get it. Despite boasting the premier defense of their era, the Bucs did not win a Super Bowl until Gruden replaced Dungy at the helm.

That fact gnaws at more than a few Buc fans, and the frustration is understandable. That defense has already placed two cornerstones in the Hall, with the potential for several more to come.

But all you need to know about Dungy is that he did his best work in Tampa, despite winning a championship in Indianapolis.

Tuesday’s Ring of Honor news conference generated a decent turnout, but I was struck by some notable absentees.

I didn’t see Derrick Brooks or Warren Sapp, although both appeared in a video tribute that kicked off the festivities. Lauren Dungy was not sitting in the front row of the team auditorium as her husband was honored.

Perhaps she had other plans. Perhaps not.

Emotional About Malcolm

I had the privilege of asking Dungy the first question at One Buc Place: what do you consider your singular achievement during your six years as head coach in Tampa?

The answer was classic Dungy. Rather than discuss the team’s success on the field, he talked with pride about the way Tampa Bay players became positive role models in the community.

When Dungy started talking about the late Malcolm Glazer, he got emotional. He can’t help himself. These two men, separated by 27 years, bridged the generation gap with mutual respect. It was Malcolm who decided Dungy was the right man to lead this franchise out of the NFL swamp. That bond remained strong, despite a gloomy scoreboard.

“We had a lot of pieces in place in 1996, so I really couldn’t believe we started off 1-8,” Dungy said of his inaugural season. “It was like, how are we losing these games? The doubts are there a little bit, but you know that what you’re preaching is the right thing.”

With the 1996 Bucs still winless after five games, Bryan and Joel Glazer asked Dungy to meet them for lunch during the bye week. Before he could order the diet plate, Dungy was assured Tampa Bay’s ownership group had his back.

Talk about a confidence boost.

“Walking, Talking Blueprint”

The Glazers picked up the tab and Dungy picked up the slack, reeling off five wins in the final seven weeks to cap his only losing season as an NFL head coach. Those Bucs finished last in league scoring, averaging less than 14 points per game, but the Glazers came away convinced they had chosen someone special.

It’s appropriate that the Steelers will be in town for Monday Night Football on the evening Dungy’s name goes up on the stadium façade. Mike Tomlin, a former Dungy assistant in Tampa, will be on the opposing sideline from Dirk Koetter.

If only Chuck Noll were still alive to see his protégé hailed by Buc Nation.

“I can vividly describe what coach Dungy’s career meant to mine,” says Tomlin. “He’s a walking, talking blueprint for me. It provided great clarity for me in terms of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it.”

Now in his 40th year covering the NFL, Ira Kaufman is the most revered sports personality and writer in the Tampa Bay area. He scored a full-time seat at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters in July of 2016. Tampa Bay’s only Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Ira busts out columns here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his award winning podcasts fire Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also hear Ira on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio Wednesdays at 5 p.m. during football season. Also a TV star, see Ira now on Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on Spectrum Sports 360 (aka BayNews 9). Ira also is part of the FOX-13 Tailgate Sunday NFL show and enjoys beet salads, Riesling, tennis, Chiefs victories and needling Joe.