Dungy Is Quiet Force Behind Formidable Colts
Dignified Head Coach Doesn't Get His Due

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 1, 2005 11:51 AM

How good are the Indianapolis Colts?

Sixteen and oh good, that's how good, and maybe even 19-0 good, meaning Super Bowl championship good.

And who's responsible for all this goodness?

Peyton Manning is the most obvious chalk pick on that score, what with his unparalleled command of the offense, his presence in the huddle and the no-huddle, his ability to keep finding open receivers with laser throws timed out to the last millisecond.

The cliché answer in the area of responsibility also would have to include Manning's 52 teammates, the coaching staff and a Bill Polian-headed front office that has built this franchise into what could be the NFL's next mini-dynasty.

But if I were to pick one man mostly responsible for this year's 11-0 start, and possible 19-0 tour de force, at the very top of the list would be Tony Dungy, a head coach who ought to be the role model for any aspiring coach in the game, including his 31 colleagues in the NFL.

It was Dungy who waded into the cesspool of disarray in Tampa Bay a decade ago, rebuilt the team and took it to within spitting distance of the franchise's first Super Bowl, only to get bounced in favor of Jon Gruden, who essentially took Dungy's team to the promised land the very next year.

Dungy deserved far better in Tampa Bay, and truth be told, now he's getting it in Indianapolis, where the Colts operate in relative media obscurity, at least until all us national guys and girls start showing up to see if perfection can be achieved over the next two months.

In my mind, it's already there in the form of the head coach, as decent a human being as ever stalked a sideline, and arguably one of the most talented in terms of knowledge of the game, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, and in forging relations with his adoring players.

As a former player himself - a nondescript safety good for a cup of coffee for two seasons with the old '70s Steelers - he clearly knows how to push all the proper motivational buttons. As the de facto CEO of his team, he also has great faith in his assistant coaches, particularly long-time offensive coordinator Tom Moore, the key man in Manning's ascension as the heir apparent to the greatest Colt quarterback of all, the late John Unitas.

From a media standpoint, Dungy has no peers. While the current NFL trend seems to be swinging toward maniacal head coaches who won't even allow their assistants to speak to the press, Dungy has never had any such prohibitions.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons a guy like Jets head coach Herman Edwards, his long-time aide in Tampa, was able to so easily handle the media demands placed on any coach plying his trade in New York.

The Parcells, Schottenheimers, Belichicks and Sabans of the NFL universe insist on being the so-called "one voice" of the franchise. They don't even realize how much they insult the intelligence of their own assistants with such an ego-driven policy. Ask assistants working under those conditions, and many privately will tell you it's a slap in the face toward their own intelligence, trustworthiness and basic integrity.

But Dungy has no such prohibitions, and in fact, wants his assistants to get their names out in the press, perhaps the better to prepare them for the day they might be the head man themselves.

Dungy's press conferences the day after games, and most other days and nights as well, last until the very last question is answered. And then he'll hang around the room a little longer in case someone needs to ask him a private question - three.

For a long while, I always admired Dungy's class and dignity when NFL owners weren't quite as liberal in their hiring policies of African Americans as head coaches. For years as an assistant in Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Minnesota, Dungy's name was always being floated for a head job here or there. But most years, he was barely able to get an interview.

If he did pout, it must have been in private, because there was never a public tantrum, as far as I can tell. He earned his first head coaching job the old fashioned way, building a body of work as a defensive coach in Pittsburgh under Chuck Noll that was as impressive as any in the field and impossible to ignore.

And when he showed up as the Bucs head coach at the annual owner meetings in March, he always made it a point to publicly decry the dearth of black head coaches in the game. I also have no doubt his success there in turning around that dysfunctional franchise is a major reason there are now six black head coaches in the league, a number that should keep increasing with each passing vacancy.

As for the Colts success, Dungy doesn't get enough credit. This season, his name is generally not at the top of the list for coach of the year honors. At the moment, Lovie Smith's fine work in Chicago has been the talk of the NFC, along with Mike Holmgren's job in Seattle. In the AFC, Mike Shanahan is getting lots of credit for the Broncos' newfound success and Marvin Lewis is drawing attention for the previously woebegone Bengals rise toward the top of the standings.

Dungy is often dismissed because he's got Manning, he's got Marvin Harrison and he's got Edgerrin James, as formidable an offensive trio the league has seen since the Aikman-Irvin-Smith glory days for the Cowboys in the early 1990s. You often hear that with those three on his side, he should win.

But this year, the Colts also have a defense, overseen by Dungy and built exactly the way he likes it, emphasizing speed and quickness over brute force and taking full advantage of the artificial turf in the RCA Dome. This past Monday night, that defense held the once mighty Steelers to 197 yards total offense and only ten first downs, and there should be more of the same down the stretch.

So this year, I'll take the Colts to be 16-0 good, and maybe even 19-0 better, with a Super Bowl trophy in the franchise's future. I'll also take Tony Dungy as coach of the year. And how good would that be?

Len Shapiro can be reached at Badgerlen@hotmail.com.