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Ex-Bucs coach has been swept off his feet by the warm reception he's gotten in Indianapolis.
By DARRELL FRY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 5, 2002
INDIANAPOLIS -- Initially, Tony Dungy was thinking US Airways or Delta Air Lines. He was preparing to fly to Indianapolis to be announced as the Colts' new coach and figured he would get there the same way he gets anywhere. Flying commercial.
Then he talked to the Colts.
"They said, "Don't worry (about flying commercial). We'll stop down and pick you up (in the team jet),' " Dungy said. "It was one of those 10-seat deals. They have a flight attendant taking care of you. It was just unbelievable.
"Then we landed at the airport and they had a helicopter take us over to the facility for the press conference. It was impressive. I've never experienced anything like that. I guess I know how the president feels."
Dungy, fired by the Bucs after six seasons, has been getting the presidential treatment since joining the Colts on Jan.23. The team and the city have embraced him and showered him with encouragement and hospitality.
The team has bent over backward from the moment it pegged Dungy as its next coach. In fact, the Colts didn't ask Dungy to come up for an interview, they went to him, arranging a meeting in Tampa at his convenience.
The news conference to announce his hiring was elaborate, "on a bigger scale than anything we've done before," Colts vice president of public relations Craig Kelley said.
Then, owner Jim Irsay put the team plane virtually at Dungy's disposal, flying him back to Tampa and parking the jet at Tampa International Airport for several days -- where it was clearly visible from One Buc Place -- until Dungy was ready to return.
"You feel like you're going first class and that whatever you need, they're going to do for you," Dungy said.
When he arrived back in Indianapolis, the city was waiting with open arms. Within days, Kelley said, the team was inundated with requests from the community begging for a piece of Dungy. By the end of his first week, the total had grown to "a couple of hundred."
"It was more than we've gotten for anyone else -- at least since I've been here," said Kelley, who has been with the team 17 years.
Dungy, like the team's biggest star, quarterback Peyton Manning, can't go anywhere around town without being recognized. He can't stop at a store to pick up milk and bread without shaking a half-dozen hands and hearing from twice as many well-wishers.
Recently he took in a Pacers game, and found his face plastered on the arena's message board, which led to a personal invitation from Pacers coach Isiah Thomas.
"He said, "If you ever want to come to a game, let me take care of you.' And ever since then I've been sitting in some pretty good seats behind the bench," Dungy said, sounding genuinely awed by all the fuss. "It makes you feel good. There's a larger black community here (compared with Tampa), and they are very excited about things. It was a little different when I first got to Tampa because I wasn't as well known and the people were kind of taking a wait-and-see attitude about the Bucs because at that time they hadn't won in so long.
"But the community here has been great and I'm looking forward to getting involved and being a part of it and trying to stress that to the players like we did in Tampa."
Dungy is aware the love affair will sour quickly if the team doesn't win. To that end, he has been busy finalizing his staff and tweaking his roster.
The Colts already have one of the league's most potent offenses, and Dungy is trying to bulk up the defense.
For now, though, Dungy is elated with being in Indianapolis, especially with the way that red carpet feels underneath his feet.
"I'm going to miss a lot of things about Tampa and miss a lot of people down there," he said, "but it's exciting to come into a place where they are happy to have you and they're excited and the expectations are high."