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In 1978, Tony Dungy was signed as a defensive back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had played college ball at Minnesota and went undrafted. He was apart of the 1978 Super Bowl champion team. Dungy would then bounce around to the 49′ers and Giants before he stopped playing.

In 1980, Dungy would make the move to coaching which would later define his career in professional football. He went back to his alma mater, the University of Minnesota as a defensive backs coach. Dungy would stay with the Golden Gophers for one year before he made the leap to the NFL in the same position.

In 1981 Chuck Noll, who coached Dungy in his time as a player welcomed him back as the defensive backs coach. He would wait until the 1984 NFL season to be promoted to defensive coordinator for the Steelers.

He would go back to be the defensive backs coach with the Kansas City Cheifs in 1989 and then the Minnesota Vikings in 1992. In his three year stint as Vikings defensive coordinator his team was among the best in defense.

Tony Dungy would get his first shot at being a head coach in 1996 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was at this time that Dungy would bring in and install his now famous Tampa 2 defense. The Bucs would go 6-10 in his first year.

Dungy put together his first winning season the next year and would put up a 54-42 record in 6 years before going to the Indianapolis Colts in 2002. He watched his former team win the Super Bowl the next year under John Gruden, and got straight to work with 4 year quarterback Peyton Manning and the 6-10 Colts.

In his first year as Colts coach the team went 10-6 before losing in the wildcard round to the New York Jets. His Colts would come first in the AFC South every year except 2008, when the Tennesee Titans would take the division.

Dungy had a great career as a coach, but one main reason this article is being written is the 2006 season. The Colts had a great year and reached Super Bowl 41 against the Chicago Bears.

No African American coach had ever won a Super Bowl, but no matter who won this game it would make history. Dungy was playing against fellow African American coach Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears.

The Colts won the sloppy Super Bowl 29-17 and Dungy became the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl.

Tony Dungy is not the first African American to be a coach, but he still paved the way for many of today’s coaches and more coaches to come in the future. Since that game Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers has also won a Super Bowl, becoming the second African American coach to do so.

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