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Dungy departs with grace, not rancor

Outgoing coach reflects on the good in his six seasons and doesn't criticize the men who fired him.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 16, 2002

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TAMPA -- Tony Dungy took the high road out of Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

With class and character, the Bucs' winningest coach, who was fired after six seasons, used his final news conference to reflect on what his teams accomplished rather than rip into owners who decided it wasn't enough.

"I brings back memories of six years ago," Dungy said. "I guess I would just like to reflect on that. I think when you are a Christian you look at things from a different perspective, and some things that are supposed to be bad, even though they are sad, they don't necessarily strike you as bad times. That's how I look at today, and I choose to remember the really great things and the fun times that we've had."

Although Dungy said he was "a little surprised" by his firing Monday, he refused to criticize the handling of his departure by owner Malcolm Glazer and his family.

The Times reported Friday, before the Bucs' 31-9 loss at Philadelphia in the NFC wild-card game, that the Glazers had decided to fire Dungy and replace him with Bill Parcells if the team failed to reach the conference championship.

Dungy said he did not harbor any ill feelings toward the Glazers.

"Not at all. I think as a boss you have to make decisions," Dungy said. "I've had to make decisions. I've made them and done what I think has been best for the team. My boss has made a decision on what he thinks is best for the team. That's what you go by. ... There's no great way to handle this."

In fact, Dungy's meeting with vice presidents Bryan and Joel Glazer at an undisclosed location in Tampa on Monday night lasted about two minutes.

"In typical fashion, (he was) the ultimate class act," said Bucs general manager Rich McKay, who also attended the meeting. "In

discussing it with him and realizing the change was being made, nobody could've been more positive about it. That typifies the guy. I think he's proud of what we accomplished. I think he knows the role he played in it and how important he was in it. I think he also understands that in business there are going to be changes. It just seems to happen. I think he's okay with it. I'll miss him as a friend."

Dungy should soon land on his feet. He was paid $1.8-million for the final year of his contract. Tuesday, agent Ray Anderson began lining up interviews for the coach who took the Bucs to the playoffs four times in five years.

Dungy may have his choice of jobs with the Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers or San Diego Chargers. In Carolina, he could be joined by McKay, who has been offered a contract extension and another position in the Bucs organization under Parcells.

"But obviously, any coach that has the reputation, that has accomplished what he has accomplished and operates the organization the way he has, affects guys like me," McKay said. "So that's the bridge I have to cross when and if we come to that."

Dungy said he had no regrets over his coaching career in Tampa Bay.

"I think I'm proud of the effort that we gave week in and week out and the way we tried to do things," he said. "Probably, I'm most proud of that.

"It's been good. We came with the idea of winning the Super Bowl and we didn't get that done. But we accomplished a lot."

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