Tony Dungy

A lone security guard escorted Tony Dungy to his office at One Buccaneer Place, headquarters of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Once inside, he quietly sorted through six years' worth of memories—photographs, notebooks, his sons' video games—and stuffed them into cardboard boxes.

On January 12, 2002, the Bucs had suffered a crushing 31-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. And now, two days later, Dungy was fired.

Outside the Buccaneers' one-story, stucco and concrete offices, a light evening mist was giving way to an all-out rain. This was winter in Florida. And it was a perfect reflection of what Dungy was feeling on that dark night. He was now the former head coach of an NFL team.

"At that time in my life, it was hard to remember God's promise from Romans 8:28," Dungy says, "that all things work together for good to those who love Him. But I also tried to remember the promise in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9—that despite all of our troubles, God will never abandon us. What we often see as defeat is frequently the stage being set for a comeback."

The stage was further set a week later when he accepted the position of head coach for the Indianapolis Colts, a team he would eventually lead to a Super Bowl victory.

Giving thanks to God after a big win has become something of a cliché in professional sports. Still, when Dungy did it, almost everyone knew it was the real deal.

The importance of faith and humility are strong themes in Dungy's new memoir, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices and Priorities of a Winning Life (Tyndale). The book includes a foreword by actor Denzel Washington and endorsements from friends like Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith, preacher Tony Evans, and singer Michael W. Smith.

In the book Dungy, who turns 52 in October, reveals the values that have kept him on track despite overwhelming personal and professional obstacles—including firings, encounters with racism, and the tragic loss of a child.

In the face of adversity, Dungy has not only survived but risen to the very top of his profession in a way that's won the respect of fans, players, and even his competitors. His quiet yet commanding demeanor evokes strength and inspires all who meet him to take a long, hard look at the things that really matter in their own lives.

Starting strong
"In a lot of ways, I had some great advantages growing up," Dungy said in an interview with Today's Christian. "My parents loved me, and despite them being very busy with their own lives and careers, they always found ways to carve out time to be with me. My parents were educators. They never made a tenth of the money I make, but in terms of impact on society that our professions have, football coaches are pretty far down the line."

Dungy and his three siblings were raised in a Christian home. His paternal grandfather was a minister. His mother, who taught Sunday school at their Baptist church in Detroit, made sure the family was grounded in biblical faith.

"I've been very fortunate to have a godly heritage from both sides of my family," Dungy says. "I was raised to understand that I should model the integrity of my family, and I learned the importance of making Jesus Christ the Lord of my life, but that truly wouldn't hit home with me until I was playing for Pittsburgh."

As he was growing up, Dungy confesses, Sundays meant good eating more than spiritual enlightenment. That changed when he started his NFL career as a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1977 and began hanging out with a group of Christian teammates.

"I've always had good influences, but here was this group of football players who really were different," Dungy says. "They worked at building their faith and walking the talk of being a Christian. That affected me deeply, so much so that I started to change. People who knew me before that time would tell you that I'm not the same Tony Dungy as I was before my time in Pittsburgh."

Too nice to win?
Dungy's most humbling professional moment came in 1989 when he was the defensive coordinator for the Steelers. After the team's fourth consecutive season out of the playoffs, management wanted head coach Chuck Noll to make changes to his staff. Noll at first refused, then relented. Assistants were fired and demoted. Dungy, who at 33 was the youngest defensive coordinator in the NFL at the time, and the only African American in that position, was asked to take a demotion to secondary coach. He resigned instead.

By this time, Dungy already had a reputation as a calm and polite guy—which isn't necessarily an admirable trait in the NFL. In 1986, the Philadelphia Eagles had interviewed Dungy for their head-coaching job before they hired Buddy Ryan. The rap against him then was that he was too nice of a guy for the top spot, that he needed to scream and holler and be tougher on his players.

But Dungy rose above the criticism, maintaining his low-key style. "I'm sure that my approach caused me to not get certain jobs," he says. "But I had to be true to myself, too. As a Christian in a high profile job like mine, I had to remember that I was always representing God, and that by carrying on the way a lot of coaches do, I would not be glorifying God."

He adds: "That's one of the things I like most about being a Christian. I don't have to worry about all the legalities of religion. Christ took care of all that when He died on the cross. I can focus on excellence and giving God all the glory like it's supposed to be."

Tampa Bay rollercoaster
Dungy was not without a job for long. After a two-year stint as a secondary coach with the Kansas City Chiefs, he became the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings in 1992 and, finally, Tampa Bay's head coach in 1996. There, he led the Bucs to the kind of success they had never experienced—four playoff appearances in six seasons and a 54-42 record. Before Dungy, the Bucs had endured 13 straight losing seasons.

At Tampa, Dungy also gave his friend Lovie Smith his first NFL coaching job. Smith, who is also a Christian, says he models his approach of "being a teacher instead of screaming and yelling" after what Dungy taught him in Tampa.

"I could spend the rest of the day talking about Tony Dungy and what he means to me," Smith told the Associated Press. "We have similar beliefs, and to see him [persevere] through the storms and see that he's the same person is truly encouraging."

The fiercest storm in Tampa, of course, was Dungy's fateful firing.

"I will admit that when I was let go at Tampa Bay I thought it was over," he says. "I thought God was going to start leading me into something like a prison ministry or maybe inner-city programs."

But he soon discovered football was still in God's plans for him.

In the midst of pain
In 2002, Dungy took over as coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Under his leadership, and with superstar quarterback Peyton Manning leading the charge on the field, Indy was a perennial contender. But the same lack of success in the playoffs haunted Dungy.

Then, in late 2005, as the Colts charged toward the postseason, Dungy and his family experienced every parent's worst nightmare when their oldest son, James, 18, took his own life in a Tampa apartment. He left no suicide note.

Although the reasons for his son's suicide remain unknown, Dungy says that the experience, like sports, only reinforces his belief that life has its peaks and valleys. But God is there—always. "I have received so many calls, letters, and e-mails after James's death that let me know that God really does have plans, even in the midst of great pain," he says.

Dungy recalls one instance in particular where God used his heartache to encourage others.

"I saw James for the last time several weeks before he died. There was nothing special about that last time, just a 'see you later.' No hugs, no nothing. I spoke to him several times after that last meeting, but after he died, I was talking to a man who heard me speak at James's funeral, and he told me that my comments led him to meet with his son, and when they parted, he grabbed him and hugged him, because we never know when that last time will be."

Like a shepherd
On February 4, 2007, Dungy celebrated what had eluded him for so many years before, as his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears (led by his friend Lovie Smith) in Super Bowl XLI. Dungy became the first African American coach to win the legendary NFL championship match, and probably one of the game's most humble and gentle champions.

"There are those who said we wouldn't win the big one because I wasn't tough enough on the players," Dungy says. "But I see my job as a coach like a shepherd. You know where you need your flock to go, and your job is to get them there. You don't see shepherds yelling and shouting at their sheep. They know that they respond best to a gentle touch. That's my approach, and I believe that I have proven it works."

Peyton Manning certainly agrees. "I can't get over the calm look he has on his face," he told the Associated Press. "He's calm on the opening kickoff and he's calm when we're down 21-3. It's one of the things that allows us to come back from deficits like that."

Winning a Super Bowl and losing a child are on opposite extremes of the emotional scale. But Dungy thinks both events have had a positive effect on his life.

"Both of these events have given me the opportunity to grow in my faith," he says. "I have been touched by so many people who have reached out to me to express their own experiences, their triumphs as well as their tragedies. And because of my experiences, I have been able to help them. I can tell them in no uncertain terms that despite these ups and downs, God is with us. God is for us. He won't ever abandon us."

Michael W. Michelsen Jr. is a freelance writer living in Riverside, California.

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