“That’s How I Talk To My Boys; That’s Who I Want As My Head Coach”
February 16th, 2022
Team Glazer patriarch, the late Malcolm Glazer.
A little slice of Buccaneers history here.
It may be a story told previously, but Joe hadn’t heard it or doesn’t remember it. It’s als0 laced with a bit of irony, too.
Hall of Fame head coach Tony “Father” Dungy, who led the Bucs in ancient times (1996-2001), joined The Dan Patrick Show last week and was talking about minority hiring in the NFL.
That led Father Dungy to share one of his early interview experiences seeking a head coaching gig following his success as a defensive coordinator. Dungy explained that he met with one unnamed club and then word on the NFL street soon emerged that “he didn’t interview well.”
The closing minutes of the interview turned ugly for Dungy, but the same question drew a very different response from Bucs owner Malcom Glazer a year later.
“The last question the [unnamed team owner representative] asked me, he said, ‘I understand you don’t use profanity, you don’t raise your voice much. How are you going to motivate my guys?’ And I said, ‘I’ll do it the way I always have, and the way my dad did it with me. I’m going to show them that I care about them, that I know what I’m doing, that I love them, and I think I’ll get that mutual respect and they’ll be motivated. That’s what I’ve done with my defenses over the years,” Dungy said.
“The guy looked across at me and said, ‘That won’t work in the NFL; that’s not what I’m looking for.’ And then the word came out that I didn’t interview well.
“The next year I go to Tampa, they ask me kind of a similar question. I answer the same way. Mr. Glazer said, ‘That’s how I talk to my boys; that’s who I want as my head coach.”
The rest is history. The irony is that the Bucs won the Super Bowl after firing Father Dungy and bringing in one of the most foul-mouthed coaches in history. And then they won a Super Bowl 18 years later with another profanity machine.
It just illustrates that there’s more than one way to win in the NFL — and there’s also more than one quarterback that can get the job done, too.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:54 am
The sense of “values” has been lost in today’s world.
“If you don’t think My way then you are wrong.” is the new norm.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:57 am
Great story Joe. I heard years ago that before the interview Dungy broke his glasses in some way and he had to tape them together. At least I think I heard that.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:03 am
Years ago I was staying at a hotel geting ready to watch the Bucs @ Redskins when I bumped into Mr. Glazer on the elevator. At the time, the decision had been recently made to keep the Bucs in Tampa becasue an agreement had been made to build a new stadium and demolish the “Sombrero”.
I thanked Mr. Glazer for keeping the Bucs in Tampa and he engaged me in a conversion about my Bucs fandom and even my view of the game the next day. What a gracious and humble man! I’ll never forget those few minutes of converstion with Mr. Glazer. Class act.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:11 am
Nice insight, good story, better lesson. Dungy was the perfect guy to resurrect our Bucs. He deserved to win a SB here, too bad his stubbornness got in the way. Getting fired opened his eyes and allowed him to win it with the Colts; although Peyton had a little something to do with opening his eyes too.
February 16th, 2022 at 10:16 am
Joe you should show more pictures of the Late Great M Glazer. I was at RAY JAY when they had the 1st super bowl party & M Glazer held up the SB trophy & said TB fans are the best in the world. I think of the Glazer family as great NFL owners, yes they made some mistakes, haven’t we all….
February 16th, 2022 at 11:01 am
@SB
You nailed it!!! Couldn’t agree more!!
February 16th, 2022 at 12:09 pm
Tony – come to the Bucs as Defensive Consultant! Please.
Reading the Sapp take just got me so mad at Todd’s Bowels, there a hole in the wall where his poster used to be.
February 16th, 2022 at 12:16 pm
@!!#/\ &*() ×÷%%__8 (
February 16th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
Pick6
Cool story, thanks for sharing.
February 16th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
Jaymiss Pick6,
Man, great story and I had one very similar. I was at the pick a seat day that they used to have at the Big Sombrero. Mr. Glazer was on the field seated at a table greeting fans. I mentioned how thankful I was that the team was remaining in Tampa.
He then asked my name and engaged in some conversation. I left thinking what a nice guy. I still have my Bucs hat signed by him.
Cool story too, Joe.
February 16th, 2022 at 3:50 pm
Enjoyable story and most of the comments, too.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
Very cool story indeed.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:22 pm
I happened to get a Christmas gift…Dec of 96 to the last game in the old Sombrero…(they played Chicago) – we were on the 50 yard line, row 88. In the visitor section. Glorious game…Tampa absolutely was killing it, and all the Bears fans left around halftime. After the game, my brother in law and i went down and found out where to go to “get autographs”, after the game. We watched Hardy Nickerson drive out on his Harley…and then this red bearded older guy was going around shaking everyone’s hands. When he got to us, I told him how I’d driven 14 hours to see the game, and he couldn’t have been more gracious. When he introduced himself, I about fainted, not expecting the team owner to be down and amongst the fans. I’ll always remember that day…not just for that…but meeting John Lynch, who was helping his wife sell “team cookbooks” on the side of the stadium. Seriously…15 mins of just talking to him like he was a neighbor or old friend. Good times indeed. But the Glaziers…as I’m hearing here. Yes, they may make mistakes at times, but they are great owners. Trust me, you could have Dan Snyder (barf).