Attention is nothing new for son of Dungy

Eric Dungy will know about fame even before his Plant High debut.

By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
Published February 24, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Indianapolis Star] Eric Dungy, the son of the former Bucs coach who led Indianapolis Park Tudor High with 27 catches last season, will play for Plant this season.

INDIANAPOLIS - He grew up before our eyes, standing beside his famous father on an NFL sideline. He caught warmup passes from Peyton Manning and high-fived Marvin Harrison.

The spotlight has never been very far from Eric Dungy.

But it also has never been aimed directly at him.

All that changed when Eric, the son of Colts coach Tony Dungy, enrolled at Plant High in Tampa in January.

The 6-foot-1, 165-pound sophomore left Indianapolis Park Tudor High to move to the family's Avila house in North Tampa with mother Lauren, brothers Justin and Jordan and sister Jade.

The Dungys insist they picked Plant, located about 15 miles from Avila in South Tampa, for its academics.

But because they live in another school district, they needed a special assignment. Because three-fifths of the applicants to the school were denied last year, it touched off a few days of public outcry and publicity.

"It was unexpected to me, but hopefully that's done," said Tony Dungy, who recently committed to coaching the Colts for at least one more season. "I hope there won't be that much of a spotlight as time goes on. Hopefully, it's just high school football.

"At school, it hasn't been that big of a deal."

Eric, 16, hopes to make an impact at Plant, which graduated its top two receivers and has one of the nation's top prep quarterbacks in Aaron Murray.

"I didn't know it was a football factory at the time, so that really didn't have anything to do with it," Tony Dungy said. "I know people will find that hard to believe, but that's the way it was.

"We went through the normal process they told us to go through. That's all I know, and that's all I can say. We filled out the forms they wanted us to."

By all accounts, Eric will help the Panthers. He led Park Tudor (3-7) with 27 receptions for 331 yards last season. He also had three passes defensed and 27 tackles as a defensive back.

So how will Eric stand up to the added focus on the field when his junior year begins in the fall?

"It's not going to bother him," said Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, a close friend and former assistant with the Bucs under Dungy. "Because he's been around, when he starts playing at the high school level, he has no fear.

"There's a little pressure on him, but he'll do fine."

Edwards has a little experience with the topic. While with the Bucs, his son, Marcus, played at Tampa Catholic and Clearwater Central Catholic.

"(Marcus) warmed up in training camp with Joe Montana. So when they go to high school, it's no big deal," Edwards said. "Marcus was out there in the spring going seven-on-seven against (John) Lynch and those guys. Their mentality is different."

Marcus, who played at USF and San Diego State before joining the Chiefs' scouting department last year, said the most pressure he felt was when Bucs players and coaches attended games.

"The funniest one was when Warren (Sapp) and Keyshawn (Johnson) came out. I was like, 'This is unbelievable,'" Marcus Edwards said. "I mean, I had a great time. It was a great experience having those guys come out to support me and my buddies and stuff like that.

"It was a great feeling to have players come out and watch me when I was in high school, and they tried to follow me through college. I still talk to my godfather (Lynch) and make sure he's doing well."

Tony Dungy will continue to live in Indianapolis. But he hopes to attend many of Eric's games. To that end, owner Jim Irsay has offered the use of his private plane to enable Dungy to fly to Tampa after some Friday practices. "I hope to see quite a bit, depending on how the schedule plays out," Tony Dungy said.

In fact, Herm Edwards said he also intends to make it to at least one Plant game.

"We're excited about that," he said. "I was talking to Tony ... and saying, 'We've got to get the schedules because me and (my wife) are going to find a way on our bye week to go down there and watch him.

"Eric will be fine. He can catch the ball. I remember when the guy was (little). You look at him now, and you go, 'Wow.'"

[Last modified February 23, 2008, 22:57:20]