Tony Dungy is watching the NFL with a different purpose these days – there’s no game plan to execute or strategy to analyze for millions of viewers on live TV – and the Hall of Fame coach is not so thrilled.
The first two weeks of the NFL season have left Dungy bemoaning sloppy football that reminds him of the preseason.
“Super frustrating to me,” Dungy told USA TODAY Sports this week. “I think people are doing a disservice to their team by not playing players in the preseason, not getting them ready. I’ve seen guys who looked like they were not ready for the speed of the game because they didn’t play in the preseason.
“I don’t think it will be until October when we can say who’s good and who isn’t because I think a lot of these teams are still
getting ready to play.”
Dungy said that as a coach, he can understand the rationale behind not playing starters – and particularly quarterbacks – during preseason. It’s the injury risk. Except for the teams that play in the Hall of Fame Game, teams play just three preseason games. And about half the teams didn’t put their starting quarterback on the field in preseason.
When Dungy coached (through the 2008 season), teams played four preseason games and his starters typically played about six quarters across the contests. Starters – including his franchise quarterback – would go for about three quarters in the third preseason game, then sit out the preseason finale.
“I cannot imagine, if I told Peyton Manning, ‘Hey, you’re not going to play at all, the first snap of the regular season is going to be your first live snap,’ I don’t think he would have been very happy about that,” Dungy said. “Now, a lot of people are doing it.”
A new perspective
That’s not all that Dungy, 70, is getting used to. This is the first time in 46 years that he hasn’t been connected to the NFL as a player, coach or broadcaster. The past 17 years he served as an analyst for "Football Night in America," part of the "Sunday Night Football" package on NBC, but Dungy and former all-pro safety Rodney Harrison were not renewed as part of a revamped show that now includes former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
“They felt it was time,” Dungy said. “Whether they wanted to be younger, whether they wanted to have different voices, I don’t know. Rodney and I were there 17 years. We had a lot of fun together and I made some great friendships. It was special to me because I got to maintain a lot of relationships and see people and talk to guys and kind of stay in the game without being in it 24/7.
“I just look at now like God’s got another plan and something else, and it’ll be a different phase. But it was a neat 17 years.”
Coincidentally, Dungy also wasn’t retained after six years as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection committee. The size of the committee was reduced from 50 voters to 25 (plus three alternates) as part of sweeping changes.
“I’m not bitter or upset or anything about not being on,” Dungy said. “They asked for my time on the committee, I did it, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t easy, but it was something I felt good about doing.”
Leaning into faith
Dungy, a devout Christian who lives in Tampa, is eager to continue walking the walk of a faith that he has publicly professed throughout his career – and sometimes drawn criticism for. Given his numerous charity efforts, spiritual outreach and potential media projects, there won’t be much of a void, if any, on his calendar without his national TV job.
On Saturday, Dungy will conduct the chapel service for the Minnesota Vikings after their arrival in town. He also spoke to the football team at Central Florida and this week conducted a Zoom chat with Wake Forest’s baseball team.
“In the past, I’d have to say I couldn’t do it in the fall because I’m occupied,” he said.
Dungy is also brainstorming with James Brown, the host of CBS’ "NFL Today" and his longtime friend, about developing a faith-based podcast. And he’s taped about 10 interviews with players and coaches for a project being shopped, dubbed “Road to Sunday,” that will delve into backstories essential to their journeys.
“All of them talked about the Lord without being asked. It was crazy!” Dungy said of the interviews. “To be able to talk about what guys are doing off the field, what’s on their heart, what’s inspired them and how they got there, who was key in their lives, I think we can tell some positive sports stories that the world needs.”
Defenses off to slow start
In the meantime, Dungy will still see the NFL through the eyes of a coach, analyst and player.
“I saw the Bucs play on TV and they had four fumbles,” he said, referring to the Week 1 loss at Cincinnati. “It just looked like guys are not ready for contact. And I saw a lot of blown coverages, people going in motion and getting wide open. I saw a lot of tackling that looked like what you’d do at practice – where you hit the guys but you don’t wrap them up. You let them keep running and you don’t take people to the ground. It looked like the same thing.
“I know they are going to be better, they are going to be sharper, and it’s a long season. But these first two weeks, I’ve seen a lot of up and down play that you don’t expect.”
At this point, Dungy says that offenses – with timing sharpened by 7-on-7 non-contract drills – have a distinct advantage over defenses.
“In the old days, it used to be the opposite,” he said.
Interestingly, Dungy said that he and Tomlin – who was hired by Dungy an a NFL coach and now replaces him on the NBC set – talked about how defenses are hard-pressed to keep up because CBA rules limit contact in practices.
Of course, it’s no surprise that Dungy – a college quarterback who converted to safety in the NFL and former defensive coordinator – has a nerve struck for defense.
“The way the practice schedules are set up, with what you can and can’t do, it’s harder on defense,” Dungy said. “It’s hard to get that physicalness, the reaction time and everything.
“I look at Denver and Houston as two of the best defenses last year and they both had most of their guys back. And they’re giving up 30 points in a game (in Week 1). You’re saying, ‘Wait a minute. Are these the same guys?’ They are, but they’re not playing the same way. So I think some of these teams are going to be what they were and some may not.”
Either way, it will be a different type of must-see TV for Dungy.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sloppy start to NFL season 'super frustrating' for Tony Dungy | Exclusive
