The Manatee High School Hurricane football team cut practice short Monday afternoon to be treated to a visit from former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colt’s Head Coach Tony Dungy.  Dungy who has an extensive history with coaching both on the field and off the field stresses that good coaches are essentially teachers who put faith and family ahead of football and do not belittle their players or scream at them. Also, like Dungy, they remain calm when things go badly.

 

Dungy's tenure in Tampa Bay as the head coach of the Buccaneers brought greater attention to his personal accomplishments outside of sports. Tony Dungy has earned widespread respect both on and off the field due to what many see as strong convictions and high personal standards of ethics and behavior, which affect his behavior as both a coach and as a member of his community. He has been active in many community service organizations in the cities in which he has coached. While in Tampa Bay, Dungy worked as a public speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action.

 

Dungy explained to Manatee football players that its not just the physical aspect of the game that wins championships, in fact he mentioned that his 2007 Super Bowl team wasn’t his best physical team that he has ever coached, but it was the combination of mental and physical attributes that lead his team to win Super Bowl XLI.

 

Its important to remember were you come from and to appreciate the games you play today, because you will always remember your high school losses. To this day Tony Dungy claims that of all things he remembers good and bad in football, it was a loss in high school that he remembers most about, even today.

 

Dungy, now retired and a commentator on NBC’s Football Night in America is also affiliated with a program called “All PRO Dad” which is an innovative and unique program for every father. They strive to help fathers become passionate about their role in their family’s life. They strive daily to provide them every resource needed to rightly train up their children and give them a hopeful future. Their aim is to interlock the hearts of the fathers with their children and as a byproduct the hearts of the children with their dads.

 

You can check out Tony’s diaries at http://www.allprodad.com/dungy/

 

Also you can “Like” Tony Dungy on www.Facebook.com/tonydungy