Quiet Strength

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life (2007), a memoir by retired American football head coach Tony Dungy co-written by American author and sports attorney Nathan Whitaker, details in broad strokes Dungy's life and career while offering a number of life lessons, rooted in Dungy's devout Christian faith.

Born in Jackson, Michigan on October 6, 1955, Dungy was raised by two teachers, which he credits for the discipline and winning attitude he developed throughout his life. His father, Wilbur, was a science professor at nearby Jackson College while his mother, Cleomae, taught English literature with a focus on Shakespeare at Jackson High School. During World War II, Wilbur served as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American aviators in the history of the United States Armed Forces, which was a source of pride for the Dungy family.

After graduating from Parkside High School, Dungy attended the University of Minnesota where he played as a quarterback. Though he went undrafted in the 1977 National Football League draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers went on to sign Dungy as a free agent, slotting him in as a backup safety and a special teams starter. That year, Dungy became the most recent player as of 2019 to both throw and catch an interception in the same game, a somewhat dubious honor bestowed onto him after the Steelers' two starting quarterbacks, Terry Bradshaw and Mike Kruczek, were both injured. The following year, the Steelers went 14-2 during the regular season and went on to win the Super Bowl, defeating the Dallas Cowboys. Dungy played a significant role in the Steelers' successful campaign that season, leading the team in interceptions as part of its famed "Steel Curtain" defense.



Despite his success, Dungy was traded the following season to the San Francisco 49ers before retiring from the NFL a year later after an unsuccessful stint with the New York Giants in which he failed to make the team. Determined to remain a part of American football, Dungy promptly landed a job at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, where he served as an assistant coach in charge of defensive backs.

A year later in 1981, Dungy's old coach in Pittsburgh, Chuck Noll, hired him as an assistant coach with the Steelers. There, he worked his way up the ladder, becoming the team's defensive coordinator in 1984. However, after a disastrous 1988 campaign, Dungy was demoted to the position of defensive backfield coach, the same job he held in 1984. Dungy opted instead to move on, taking the same position but in Kansas City with the Chiefs. After three years in Kansas City, the Minnesota Vikings hired Dungy as their new defensive coordinator. Under Dungy's tutelage, the Vikings became the number one ranked defense in the NFL.

In 1996, Dungy landed his first head coaching gig with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Though his first year was a little rough, by 1997, he had led Tampa Bay to its first winning season since 1982 as well as a playoff win, only the team's second in franchise history. Despite continued success in the regular season, however, Dungy was fired as head coach after the 2001 season, owing to a perceived inability to win playoff games. The next year, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl.



Just over a week after his firing, the Indianapolis Colts hired Dungy as head coach. While the Colts had a potent offense led by star quarterback Peyton Manning, Dungy was hired to beef up the team's defense. Once again, Dungy proved to be a formidable head coach during the regular season, only to lose playoff games far too frequently. This was most apparent during the 2005 season during which the Colts started the season 13-0 only to lose its first playoff game, becoming the only team in NFL history to go 13-0 and not make it to the Super Bowl.

Shortly thereafter, tragedy struck the Dungy household. Throughout the book, Dungy doesn't talk much about his family, but he does devote a large portion of the memoir to the death of his eighteen-year-old son, James, by suicide. For Dungy, his faith in God helped him immensely as he dealt with the unimaginable tragedy of losing a son in that way. His resolve stronger than ever before, Dungy led the Colts to a 12-4 record and, following a mind-blowing comeback win against the New England Patriots, advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in his career. That season, Dungy and his colleague Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears became the first two black head coaches to reach the Super Bowl in NFL history, though Smith beat Dungy by only a few hours, winning his clinching game earlier in the day. In the Super Bowl, the Colts defeated the Bears 29-17, capping off an extraordinarily difficult year for Dungy personally with a professional triumph.

As both a detailed account of an impressive NFL career and a Christian-themed self-help book, Quiet Strength is a success.