Tony Dungy Leadership at the NACC
Tony Dungy leadership principles were the focus of his message at the North American Christian Convention, where he connected success, service, perseverance, and genuine care for people. Drawing from football, Scripture, and personal experience, he described leadership that looks more like shepherding than driving people forward.
- Dungy shared how defeats helped shape his growth as a coach and leader.
- He emphasized that leaders should put the welfare of their people first.
- He described his post-coaching work as another ministry of the gospel of Christ.
By Brad Dupray
As a guest at this year’s North American Christian Convention, Tony Dungy shared principles that lead to success in football—and all of life.
When the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, the victory affirmed Tony Dungy as one of the all-time great coaches in the National Football League. That season marked the ninth consecutive year a Dungy-coached team made the playoffs, tying him with legendary coach Tom Landry’s all-time record. The next season, Dungy’s Colts reached the playoffs again.
Speaking for about 20 minutes at the “Uncommon Leadership” luncheon and then in a one-on-one Q&A session with NACC President Ben Cachiaras, Dungy imparted wisdom straight from the pages of Scripture.
When Tom Warner introduced Dungy at the luncheon, he pointed out one of the coach’s top three football memories came as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lined up as a safety in a game against the Houston Oilers, he caught his first NFL interception. That by itself would be an amazing memory, but when Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and backup quarterback Mike Kruczek both suffered injuries, Dungy was brought on to play quarterback. Shortly after that, Dungy had the distinction of both catching and throwing an interception in the same game!
Growing from Defeat
Cachiaras asked Dungy about that experience and how to handle success and failure along the way. Dungy responded, “Struggles are what make you, allow you to help other people along the road.” He said winning a Super Bowl as a rookie defensive back made reaching the pinnacle seem easy. It was another 27 years before he would experience that level of success again, but as a coach. He said losing upset him, until he looked back and saw that in every situation he had grown from his defeats.
Dungy compared coaching with ministry. “Championship teams don’t win because they don’t have problems,” he said. “They overcome their problems, battle back, and persevere.”
He related his frustration at getting to the playoffs and losing to the New England Patriots (one time on a fumble at the 1-yard line) and then, when the Colts finally bypassed the Patriots in the playoffs, they had to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (and lost). “God wants you to keep fighting and persevering,” he said. “Keep believing in him. The difference between sports and ministry is God wants you to fight for him!”
In his book Uncommon, Dungy quotes Cal Stoll, his coach as a quarterback at the University of Minnesota. Stoll told him, “Success is uncommon, therefore not to be enjoyed by the common man. I’m looking for uncommon people.”
Uncommon Principles
At the NACC luncheon, Dungy stuck to that topic as he conveyed principles of leadership seen as uncommon in most coaching circles, but which have proven successful in his leadership pursuits.
This advice from Steelers coach Chuck Noll changed Dungy’s way of thinking: “As a leader, your goal is to help your group succeed.”
Dungy said his father, a schoolteacher, put it this way, “My job as a teacher is to help every student get an A.”
The junior Dungy arrived at a simple, yet profound principle. “I thought like a disciplinarian,” he said, “but coaching is not ‘my way or the highway.’” It’s finding out what his players needed to be built into their lives, what things are most important to them.
He noted many Americans grew up watching westerns on television and developed a mind-set of the cattle driver, pushing forward. But the uncommon leader thinks like a shepherd, he said, which is strange to the American mind-set.
The shepherd develops a relationship with his sheep. Sheep understand the shepherd is going to help them. He pointed out that Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice,” and referred to the shepherd’s willingness to lay down his life for the sheep. “In football, first I cared about the player.”
His approach to leadership and coaching was so uncommon in NFL ranks that it “drew a lot of blank looks” from team executives during coaching job interviews. He would be asked, “You don’t curse? You don’t yell? You don’t raise your voice?” To the audience he paused and said, “Well, one time in 1984 . . . .” which brought laughter from the crowd.
Players First
As an example of how he cared for his players, Dungy related the story of David Thornton who, before the 2006 season, approached him about being offered a considerably larger contract to leave the Colts and play for the Tennessee Titans. Even though Dungy knew Thornton’s value to the Colts, he encouraged him to seriously consider the Titans’ offer and what it could mean for his family’s future.
Thornton accepted the Titans’ offer, but Colts players saw that Dungy was serious about his commitment to players first. He said, “Let your people/team/group know that their welfare is the most important thing to you.” Once the players knew they were first, as individuals, following became easy.
Using Jesus’ words “[I] did not come to be served, but to serve” as his guide set Dungy apart from others in the coaching fraternity. When asked in a separate interview (see sidebar) how a leader can work toward performance goals while not losing the overall objective of being a godly person, Dungy responded, “I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. We have to realize we can perform at a high level and still do it the Lord’s way.”
Another Ministry
Even after his retirement from coaching, Dungy continues to show his commitment to the individual through his charitable work. As the national spokesman for All Pro Dad, he travels the country encouraging men to be the fathers and husbands the Bible calls them to be.
The morning after speaking at the NACC, he visited with patients at Riley Hospital for Children, spoke to Indianapolis city leaders about Project Safe Neighborhoods to promote the launch of an anti-crime DVD he filmed last year, and met with WNBA star Tamika Catchings about the importance of being a mentor for United Way of Central Indiana’s ReadUP program.
At the end of his interview, Cachiaras asked Dungy if he would ever go back to coaching. Dungy responded, “I really don’t think I will. I enjoyed 28 years as a coach, but I think the Lord is moving me into another ministry.”
Another ministry. Seeing every role in life as a ministry of the gospel of Christ is part of what makes Tony Dungy an uncommon leader.
Brad Dupray is senior vice president, ministry development, with Church Development Fund, Irvine, California.
This man knows what he’s talking about!