Gopher alum Tony Dungy named one of top NFL coaches of all-time

May 9, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber (middle) poses with head coach Greg Schiano (left), former head coach Tony Dungy (second from left), former director of player personnel Jerry Angelo (second from right) and general manager Mark Dominik during his retirement press conference at at One Buccaneer Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Former Indianapolis Colts head coach and Gopher alum, Tony Dungy, was listed as one of ESPN’s  top 20 coaches of all-time.

Dung was a quarterback for the Golden Gophers and went undrafted in 1976 before signing as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a defensive back.

While best known as a head coach, Dungy would play four seasons in the NFL before working the sidelines as a defensive backs coach, defensive coordinator, and eventually a head coach starting in 1996 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Dungy won two Super Bowls, once as a player with the Steelers in 1978 and as a coach with the Colts in 2006.  As a coach, he amassed a record of 139-69.

Since retiring in 2008, Dungy has been a football analyst for NBC’s Football Night in America.

In January, Dungy was awarded the NCAA’s highest honor — the Theodore Roosevelt Award.

The award is the highest honor the NCAA can bestow on an individual and it is given annually to an person “for whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being thereafter have been important factors in a distinguished career of national significance and achievement.”

The first honoree to receive the award was former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1967. Since then, three other U.S. Presidents have been awarded the honor named after the 26th President.

Dungy is the second Gopher to accept the award — the first was Frederick L. Hovde in 1970. Hovde played football for the Gophers and would become the president of Purdue.

Other notable winners include Bill Cosby, Jesse Owens, John Wooden, Bob Dole, Bill Richardson, Alan Page, Sally Ride and John Glenn.

• Take a look back at the 1973 Gopher football season, courtesy of Gopher Sports. The Gophers finished that season 7-4 overall.
• Following a trip to the Western Conference Finals, Lionel Hollins is out as the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Hollins is the father of Gophers guard Austin Hollins.

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