The first African American coach to ever win the Super Bowl who also is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame will be in The Villages next month.
Tony Dungy, who led the Indianapolis Colts and superstar quarterback Peyton Manning to victory in Super Bowl XLI at the end of the 2006 season, will be at Barnes & Noble in Lake Sumter Landing on Jan. 30 to sign copies of his new book titled “The Soul of a Team: A Modern-Day Fable for Winning Teamwork.” The event gets under way at 7 p.m. and Villagers will have the chance to shake Dungy’s hand and hear some great NFL stories from the man who also coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and currently serves as an analyst on NBC’s “Football Night in America.”
Dungy, who is extremely active in community service organizations, also is a New York Times bestselling author. “The Soul of a Team” is his seventh book and it is written from a perspective of helping leaders transform teams or organizations.
In the book, Dungy points out that being successful requires mastering the art of teamwork.
“Whether at work, school, church, or home, virtually everyone is part of a team – and when they work well, teams can accomplish more than individuals working by themselves,” the book’s overview says.
Dungy, who also won a Super Bowl as a player with the Pittsburgh Steelers, points out that all teams are not created equal. He says that when a team isn’t functioning well, individual strengths oftentimes are undermined and weaknesses become glaring, which makes the work environment a “terrible” place to be.
Dungy, with a proven track record of building and bringing out the best in teams – he won 139 games in 13 years as an NFL head coach and set a record with 10 consecutive playoff appearances – shares his experiences from years of coaching and working with various leaders. In the book, where he uses a fictional professional football team looking for a turnaround, Dungy talks about some of the most common issues that hold a team back. But he also lays out a game plan to achieve winning teamwork.
“Whether you aspire to be a better leader or a stronger team player, ‘The Soul of a Team’ will show you how to contribute to a stronger, healthier, more productive team destined for success,” the overview promises.
Dungy, who officially retired after the 2008 season, was the first NFL coach to defeat all 32 teams. He also was the youngest assistant coach in NFL history at age 25 and the youngest coordinator at age 28.
Dungy started his coaching career in 1980 with his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. One year later, he returned to the Steelers as an assistant under his mentor, the legendary Chuck Noll. And he also worked as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer in Kansas City and Dennis Green in Minnesota before becoming Tampa Bay’s head coach in January 1996.
Dungy was fired by the Bucs after the 2001 season and eight days later was hired as head coach of the Colts. Tampa Bay went on to win the Super Bowl the following season under new head coach Jon Gruden but many NFL insiders and fans alike credit Dungy with putting together the team that brought Tampa Bay the championship trophy.
Dungy also is seen by many in NFL circles as informal mentor and confidant of sorts. He counseled disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick during his incarceration for his role in a dog-fighting ring. And he joined with retired quarterback Donovan McNabb in convincing the Philadelphia Eagles’ powers-that-be to sign Vick to the team’s roster following his release from prison.
Dungy’s contributions are known to have had a great effect on the diversity of the NFL, including the creation of the Rooney Rule by Steelers owner Dan Rooney, which requires teams to interview minority coaches when they have openings. Many current and former head coaches also can trace their roots to Dungy. Those include:
- Lovie Smith (Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Bucs, University of Illinois);
- Leslie Frazier (Minnesota Vikings);
- Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers);
- Jim Caldwell (Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions);
- Rod Marinelli (Detroit Lions);
- Mike Shula (University of Alabama); and
- Herman Edwards (New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona State University).
