Author: David Shama

The University of Minnesota’s wish list of candidates for the football job probably has Tony Dungy’s name at the top.  For years people close to the athletic department have whispered Dungy’s name and suggested the former Gopher quarterback would be the ideal person to lead the football program. 

As coach of the Indianapolis Colts he has an annual playoff contender.  Before coming to Indy, he built a great defense in Tampa Bay as head coach and later the Bucs won the Super Bowl under coach Jon Gruden.  Prior to Tampa Bay, his reputation as Vikings’ defensive coordinator made him arguably the best assistant coach in franchise history. 

At 51, Dungy has 11 years of head coaching experience in the NFL.  He is known as a quiet leader whose charisma can take over a room.  Raised in a family of educators, Dungy is admired for both his personal and professional values.  His coaching resume, outlook on life and ties to Minnesota make him the easiest of candidates to wish for in the Gopher coaching search. 

Dungy has made his affection for the University known. He came back here last year to help with the legislative push for the new on-campus stadium.  He will be the featured speaker at the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s annual celebration event on Tuesday, May 8 at Mariucci Arena. 

Reality, however, seems to be that Dungy doesn’t consider himself a college coach after all these years in the NFL.  He said as much earlier this week and in typical Dungy graciousness added he was flattered to be mentioned, according to the Star Tribune. 

Did he absolutely mean what he said?  His brother Linden, who lives in the metro area, and two of his friends from this area said they don’t believe Dungy is interested in the Gophers. 

Linden said he hasn’t spoken to his brother since the Gopher job opened up earlier this week but he would be “surprised” if Tony expressed interest. “From my opinion they (any contacts) would not be initiated by my brother,” he said.  “When I look at him at (age) 51 and being in the NFL for 26 years.  …I don’t see him going in that direction (college coaching).” 

Linden added that Tony has a contract with the Colts, “always has honored his contracts,” and likes his routine and what he is doing in Indianapolis.  Linden said, too, that when Dungy was a Viking assistant coach the possibility of coaching the Gophers came up and his brother wasn’t interested at that time.  

John Williams, a Gopher on the 1967 Big Ten championship team, played for the Los Angeles Rams when Dungy was a Pittsburgh Steeler defensive back.  “I think it’s wishful thinking (Dungy as Gopher coach),” Williams said.  “Minnesota is his alma mater but would he want to leave one of the better NFL jobs, take a step down and not know what he is getting into?”

Charles Sims is a former Gopher basketball player who developed a friendship with Dungy while the two were in school here in the mid-1970s.  He doubts Dungy would have interest but mentioned that an extraordinary compensation package (Alabama lured Nick Saban with a reported guaranteed $32 million package) might get his friend’s attention.   

“I don’t think so,” Sims said. “Why would he be (interested)?  He has it made with the Colts.  How much is the University willing to pay?  If Saban type money, maybe.” 

Dungy is originally from Jackson, Michigan and with his background and name recognition Sims thinks his close friend would be outstanding at Minnesota. “I do think Tony would be a great coach,” Sims said. “He could get (recruit) kids in Michigan and Ohio.” 

Williams said coaching makes a difference, referencing a school like Boise State that doesn’t have the high school all-Americans that populate the rosters of big name college programs but yet found success against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.  “You don’t have to get the rivals.com all-Americans,” Williams said.  “That’s where the coaching comes in.”

For the third consecutive season the Minnesota Vikings’ local regular season TV ratings slightly declined.  The 2004 season rating was 34, with 31.6 in 2005 and 29.7 this year.  A rating point is a percentage of households watching a particular program.  

The Vikings, who finished the season last Sunday losing to the St. Louis Rams, missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season.  The rating of 23.7 for the Ram game was the lowest of the season.  The highest rating for a single game was 34.3 against Seattle. 

For the first time in memory, the Vikings purchased newspaper advertising before and during the 2006 season to sell tickets.  While still holding an enormous lead in popularity among other pro teams in town, the push to sell tickets and the TV ratings indicate the Vikings’ popularity is less than it was.  However, a team spokesman said the franchise now has sold out 94 consecutive pre-season and regular season games. 

The 2004 season was the last one that quarterback Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss played together.  Moss was traded to Oakland after the 2004 season and Culpepper left for Miami in a trade before the 2006 season.  The 2004 Vikings not only had star gate attractions in Moss and Culpepper but the team advanced to the playoffs. 

Moss is not happy in Oakland and perhaps with a different coach than Brad Childress and owner than Zygi Wilf there would be a chance the controversial Moss could return here to a team badly in need of wide receivers and box office attractions.  Childress and Wilf have placed such a premium on discipline that it’s unthinkable to imagine a Moss return.

The Star Tribune produces one of the best sports sections in the country.  Routinely offering 10 pages or more, the Star Tribune has the space and large staff to cover local events (from the prominent to obscure) better than probably at any time in this market’s newspaper history.  But recent news about the sale of the newspaper and the morbid state of newspapers across the country makes one wonder how much longer readers will enjoy such thorough sports coverage. 

When circulation and ad revenues decline, newspapers cut back on staff and space.   Earlier this week there was news that Pennsylvania’s largest newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, would terminate over 60 news people.  The St. Paul Pioneer Press parted ways with many reporters last fall, including sportswriters, and for years there has been speculation the paper will be replaced by the Star Tribune. 

Gregg Wong, a sportswriter for the Pioneer Press for many years before retiring in 2002, said his former paper doesn’t cover outstate news like it once did and some time ago closed its Minneapolis bureau.  The paper has retrenched and Wong agrees that at some date in the future the Twin Cities market will be a one newspaper town with the Star Tribune in control.  “It’s just the trend of the newspaper business,” Wong said. “There are more and more one market towns.” 

Talk of declining circulation and ad revenues at the Star Tribune makes it easier to understand how the newspaper could have been purchased for $1.2 billion by the McClatchy Company in 1998 and sold to Avista Capital Partners late last year for $530 million.  Still, given the difference in the two purchase prices it was a surprising sale. 

Does Wong think there will be cut backs in sports at the Star Tribune?  “Almost certainly,” he said.  “Advertising dictates the size of the paper.  My guess is the paper will cut jobs.  They have always been over staffed.  You see certain by-lines once per month.  You wonder what (else) they do.” 

It’s no fun to lose your job at a top newspaper like the Star Tribune even with favorable severance packages.  The pay scale for writers at both the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press has long been among the best in the country.  Union policy dictates certain minimum pay levels depending on years of service.  A reporter with six years or more of service with the newspaper will earn a minimum of $1,300.00 per week.   Reporters and columnists can earn considerably more than minimum. 

The absence of younger readers, people in their 20s and 30s, has challenged newspapers for years.  Internet advertising is growing and ad revenue is declining for many newspapers in the United States.   Wong said the Star Tribune made a redesign of its paper to attract a younger audience but he and another source said the change hasn’t been successful. 

If the Star Tribune produces a smaller sports section will it bother him?  “To me it will probably be a loss as a reader,” he said.  “The average reader isn’t like me.  Younger readers get their news from a BlackBerry, Internet, radio and TV.”