Players: "No Excuses! No Explanations!" motto is his sign of success.
By ROGER MILLS
Published October 3, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS - Without hesitation, cornerback Nick Harper turns and points to the sign at the top of the wall in the back of the Colts locker room.
Like a beacon guiding young players into harbor, the giant placard with bold black letters is a powerful reminder of the team's new leadership and philosophy.
NO EXCUSES! NO EXPLANATIONS!
"There it is. It makes sense. It speaks for itself," Harper said, when asked what's the difference in the Colts since Tony Dungy took the reins.
"When he first got here, we wanted to believe what he was saying, but the proof had to be in the pudding. We watched a lot of Tampa film, and what can you say? His method works. The guy is a genius. I think the team realizes if those guys can do it, why can't we do it?"
To Bucs players, that motto - and that sign - are nothing new.
When Dungy took over their foundering franchise in 1996, he had that sign put up in the locker room, and the Bucs' fortunes changed dramatically.
Dungy instilled his version of the Cover 2 scheme, stressed his belief in accountability, brought in the right players to master it and turned a once laughable defense into one of the NFL's most dominant.
Now, history is repeating itself in Indianapolis.
Once the standard punch line of defensive jokes around the league, the Colts rapidly are climbing the ladder under Dungy.
The season before he replaced Jim Mora, the Colts finished 29th in overall defense and last in points allowed. The team gave up 30.3 per game, a franchise high, the fourth worst in NFL history and the most surrendered in 21 years.
But in Dungy's first season, the Colts finished eighth overall in defense and seventh in points allowed (19.5 average). Both rankings were the team's highest in eight seasons.
"For my first three years here, we had a tough time on defense and we took all the heat," defensive lineman Chad Bratzke said. "We were the stepchild. You just can't compare.
"He just turned things around. We feel now like if we have to go out there to make a stop, we can make the stop."
The meteoric growth has not slowed.
Through four games, the unbeaten Colts have allowed 47 points (11.7 ppg), the league's fourth-lowest average behind the Bucs (7.3), Seahawks (11) and Panthers (11.6). Indianapolis has five interceptions, nine sacks and is holding opponents to a 38.8 percent third-down conversion. Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks, NFL defensive player of the year, said no one should be shocked knowing Dungy's pedigree.
"You start by believing that you have to do your job and trust the man next to you to do his job," Brooks said. "You don't try to do too much; just do what's asked of you. That's what they likely are starting to feel right now, and it's showing up on the field. You run to the football, and his guys are doing a job on that now.
"No, I'm not surprised. I've been a part of it, and I saw the results. If you continually do things right, do things the way you're supposed to do, you're going to have success."
Through the first 16 games of Dungy's tenure, the Colts experienced some of the regular pitfalls of learning a new system. But by the end of minicamp and this year's preseason, the light came on.
"I heard (defensive tackle) Warren Sapp the other day on the TV say how he figured that it wouldn't be long for us to be on the same path (as the Bucs)," cornerback Walt Harris said. "We're on that same path.
"Coach has brought great leadership to this team. He brought a system that, if we were to abide by it and be accountable to it and understand it, it would produce a great defense, a great team. His whole mind-set, him as a coach, allows us to believe the things that he says because of the type of man that he is. When he says things, we listen."
What the Colts have been listening to is the same stoic, gentle, consistent stream of football consciousness that Dungy laid on his former Tampa players.
He preaches and teaches his two-deep zone, one-gap formula idea that speed and the fundamental ability to fly to the ball and to tackle - individually and collectively - make up the basic blueprint of defensive success and team success.
"It's amazing how, of the defenses I've been in, this is by far the simplest, and it has been the most effective," Bratzke said. "I think sometimes coaches can make things too complicated. It's not rocket science. It's football."
Dungy's new players have taken to his formula with patience and, not surprisingly, faith.
"We're learning it," Dungy said. "I think (coordinator) Ron (Meeks) and the defensive staff have done a great job of putting it in and emphasizing how you have to play - the energy level, playing hard and being accountable to each other as a team.
"We've got some young guys who have really helped us. So, it's a growing process. Every now and then we'll revert back to a place where we're playing hard but we're not playing entirely smart, and that's when we have to regroup, and that's going to happen to us for a while. But I think we have a chance to be a good defense down the line."
Another reason for the impressive turnaround, the Colts say, is the presence of an accomplished model to follow.
"Clearly, Tampa Bay's defense has proven itself as one of the elite defenses in the league," linebacker David Thornton said. "We should be striving to get to that level. They've proven themselves year in and year out. We're just in our second year. We're not where they are by any means, but we're making quick adjustments to get where we need to go, and we're getting more productive as a group.
"They laid down the ground work for this type of defensive system, and our team knows that when they look at that defense we can be as good as they can be. It's just going to take a while."
