Tony Dungy is now in his second season as the Bucs' head coach. After his first season of a typical first season record, but full of positivity, Dungy is now ready to take on another season. The NFL draft rolled around and Dungy was focused on drafting a quality running back that could make big plays. For the longest time, one of the Bucs players kept saying that Warrick Dunn, the running back from Florida State, should be the pick for the Bucs. Dungy did his research and found Dunn to be a heck of a player and the perfect fit for their system. The draft came along and after a multi-team deal, trades flew around and Dunn landed in Tampa.
The season started and Dungy realized that his player was right. Dunn was the perfect fit for the Bucs and made a huge impact for the offense. The Bucs had a great year and for the first time in about 15 years, made the playoffs. The team did exactly what Dungy wanted them to accomplish, win games, impact the community and bring back Tampa Bay football. The team had ended the season with a 10-6 record, had the community excited for games and had games being sold out, once again.
The Bucs lost in the second round of the playoffs, but everyone knew that football in Tampa had changed. Dungy had led the team back to the playoffs and the future was bright. Unfortunately, the next season was everything but what Coach Dungy wanted. The team went 8-8 and missed the playoffs. They were a bipolar team full of great games and awful games. Inconsistency was their middle name.
The next year, Dungy got the team back on track and made the playoffs. The Bucs did so well that they even made the NFC Championship game. They were to face the Rams. One of the best teams was found in the Rams and all predictions were towards the Rams easily winning the game. Dungy knew that this would be a huge game and it would take a little extra motivation for the players. Dungy gave a speech at the beginning of the week on how the Rams were a hurricane and they were a tornado. A hurricane is strong and powerful, yet on the radar. A tornado is strong, as well, but is very unexpected. Dungy was right about this, as the press went through the whole week talking about the Rams.
The game came along and it was a defensive battle. It was a hard-fought game that ended with a Rams' victory, 11-6. Dungy couldn't believe how close he was to a Super Bowl, but still gave God praise.
I can't imagine how hard it would feel to go up and down like that from year to year. I know that in the NFL, every year is different, but it would be so frustrating to go from a promising year to a cruddy year. Dungy is still impressing me with his composure and motivation towards his players. I feel like I'm entering into his brain while reading this book, and I'm enjoying the heck out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment