By now, any football fan who watch Super Bowl XLI knows that Chicago’s Lovie Smith and Indianapolis’ Tony Dungy are the first black head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl.
But, fans, here’s a tougher question: What do Smith, Philadelphia’s Mike Tomlin, Kansas City’s Herman Edwards and Detroit’s Rod Marinelli have in common?
If you said they’re all black head coaches, you’d be wrong. Marinelli isn’t.
The correct answer? They all coached under Dungy, whose Colts are Super Bowl champions, as assistants at Tampa Bay.
In his six seasons with the Bucs, Dungy not only installed a winning philosophy and top-notch defense, he also created a coaching machine. And he did it with coaches who shared his value system of faith in God, family and integrity.
And as he did first in Tampa Bay, and now with Indianapolis, he proved that nice guys can finish first.
All four of the Dungy protégés that have become head coaches are known as men of character. In fact, when Dungy went looking for assistant coaches while at Tampa Bay, character was a major factor in the hirings. That’s because it encompasses everything Dungy believes in, from treating people with respect to controlling emotions.
With Dungy and his disciples, it’s not just how they coach but how they live their lives. They believe that it’s possible to be true to your Christianity, not cuss and keep your emotions on an even keel, not displaying anger when upset or rubbing it in when you win.
Smith’s character is a carbon copy of Dungy, which allowed him to celebrate his closest friend and mentor squaring off against his team in the Super Bowl, yet still relished the thought of his Bears emerging victorious.
When Dungy arrived in Tampa Bay as head coach in 1996, the Buccaneers were anything but winners. They had undergone 13 straight losing seasons. Malcolm Glazer had taken over ownership and no one was sure what he might do with the team, possibly even re-location. At the time, many Tampa Bay fans thought Dungy just to be one of an ongoing list of losing coaches. But against all the uncertainty, Dungy never lost faith in his God, his abilities and his team.
And he put together one of the greatest coaching staffs ever assembled.
He met Smith at Ohio State, where he had spent a season as defensive backs coach. Dungy persuaded him to work with linebackers. He found Edwards working in the front office for the Chiefs, and enticed him to coach defensive backs and become assistant head coach. Marinelli was defensive line coach at USC, the same job Dungy hired him to do with the Bucs.
Tampa Bay didn’t start well, 0-5 before the bye week. Dungy called his players and coaches together, and challenged their work ethic. The Bucs won five of their final six games that first season under Dungy, and built the platform for team that made the playoffs four of the next five years
Edwards was the first to get a head job, going to the Jets. That opened the door for Tomlin, then just 29 years old and no NFL coaching experienced. In late January, Tomlin (now 34) was named the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach.
All five coaches now have the same philosophy -- faith, then family, then football. Who knows how many more head coaches Dungy will produce. But one thing is certain: They’ll all have his character.
