I’ve been scratching my head for awhile now thinking about the Tony Dungy link to the University of Minnesota football coaching position. Dungy has been granted special status as an authority about the job opening by University officials and media.
It’s almost like this: “If Tony can’t be our coach, he can at least tell us who to hire.”
Baloney. Dungy hasn’t coached college football since he was an assistant at Minnesota about 30 years ago. He achieved a highly successful career in pro football where he became the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl. He’s been out of coaching since 2008 and now is seen weekly on NBC’s Sunday night football telecasts.
The college and pro coaching cultures are different in their demands. Dungy is an expert on the NFL, not the NCAA. His knowledge and contacts with other coaches run deepest in the NFL. Don’t make the man into something he’s not.
Ask Dungy’s opinion on coaching candidates for Minnesota and he’s likely to offer up guys coaching in the pro game, or with strong ties to it. That doesn’t fit the profile Minnesota should be pursuing. The Gophers need an established college football coach who has been a proven winner elsewhere.
Dungy is a very nice man with admirable character but let’s not go overboard on his commitment to Gophers football. Yes, he once played quarterback here and later coached for Joe Salem but if moving Gophers football out of the dumpster is a priority for Dungy it sure seems like he should accept the job that’s been offered to him at least twice in the last four years.
Dungy doesn’t have the interest and will to take on this job and he doesn’t even have a lot of personal equity in who is hired as coach. Dungy is not employed by the University. He is not a member of the Board of Regents. He doesn’t live in Minnesota, nor has he any plans to do so. I am not aware that he’s even a season ticket holder, and if so he doesn’t attend the games.
University leaders, passionate season ticket holders and other fans have much more invested in Gophers football than the far removed Dungy who both lives and works thousands of miles from Minneapolis. Those who truly love Gophers football and have loyally (blindly?) supported it through the years are the real stake holders.
The University doesn’t need a nod up or down on final candidates from Dungy