Portal:American football/Selected biography/March, 2008

 Tony Dungy is a former professional American football player and the current head coach of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. Prior to that, between 1996 and 2001, he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007.

Following a college football career with the under coach Cal Stoll in which Dungy left as the school's career leader in pass attempts (576), completions (274), touchdown passes (25), and passing yards (3,577), Dungy was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League as a defensive back. He played for the Steelers in 1977 and the Super Bowl champion 1978 seasons, leading the team in interceptions in the latter campaign. In 1979 Dungy was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, then finished his career a year later in the training camp of the New York Giants in 1980.

Following his retirement, Dungy was invited to become an assistant coach for his alma mater, the University of Minnesota in 1980. After one season in charge of defensive backs, he was asked to come back to the NFL as a coach. He was hired as an assistant coach with the Steelers by Chuck Noll, his former coach, in 1981.

In 1982, he was named defensive backfield coach, and was promoted in 1984 to defensive coordinator. He left the Steelers in 1989 to become the defensive backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, and took over the defensive coordinator position for the Minnesota Vikings under Dennis Green in 1992. While at Minnesota, Dungy's defense was ranked first in the NFL. Dungy achieved his dream of being an NFL head coach when he was hired by Rich McKay to reform the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team well-known for its lack of success, on January 22, 1996.

(more)