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  • September 12, 2007 05:34 PM ET

Who's the better coach: Tony Dungy or Bill Belichick?

Richard Deitsch (2-3-0) vs J.Rolfe (2-4-0)
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Don't measure Tony Dungy against Bill Belichick merely on titles. He can't win that fight. Belichick leads 3-1 in Super Bowl titles and has presided over one of the great dynasties in NFL history. Rather, let's look beyond the won-loss record, though if we just used that statistic Dungy is right there among the greats of the game. Dungy's .655 winning percentage (115-62 in regular season) is topped only by John Madden, Vince Lombardi, George Allen, Blanton Collier, Don Shula and George Halas among coaches with 100 or more victories. His 91-38 record since the start of the 1999 season is the best in the NFL during that span. But again, forget about that for a moment. Dungy wins the right way. He wins with class and grace. His players respect him; many would be comfortable saying they love him. He makes players better people as well as better players. And the last I checked, he hasn't been brought into the league office to explain why he's joined the cast of "I Spy." In time, Dungy may have as many rings as Belichick. And you can bet he'll have done it the right way.


We can roll out all the gaudy stats and pretty rings in the world, but the bottom line for Belichick is his ability for forge and maintain a "team-first" mentality in an era of overpaid, me-first muttonheads. He took a solid but not particularly feared Patriots team to a Super Bowl title in 2001, and while Tom Brady and others became stars, their egos have not gotten in the way of their continued success. To me, that's great coaching.


Forgive me if I'm paranoid. I've got a feeling Rolfe has a hidden camera on me as I'm writing this. As far as projecting a "team-first" ethos, no one does it better than Dungy. But let's focus on both coaches before they were blessed with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, respectively. Belichick went 36-44 in five seasons as the coach of the Browns with one playoff appearance. Dungy went 54-40 in Tampa Bay with four division titles and an NFC Championship game appearance in 1994. Your move, John.


After reviewing the video of Mr. Deitsch composing his last submission, I submit that Coach Dungy had a tad more talent to work with in Tampa than Coach Snoopy had in Cleveland. The year before he arrived, the Brownies were 3-13 and couldn't cover the spread against the Greater Akron Old Ladies Home. They went 6-10 in his first season and had the NFL's top defense in '94 (with Giants castoffs Pepper Johnson and Carl Banks), when they went 11-5 and sank The Tuna's Pats in the playoffs.


Only a fool would claim Belichick isn't a great coach. But his Master Spy escapades have me wondering if he's indeed had an unfair advantage over the competition. Rolfe might be right about Dungy having more talent in Tampa than Belichick had in Cleveland. But I'd argue that New England --on the defensive side, in particular-- has had more talent than Indy. So we know both guys can coach up a storm. For me it gets back to Dungy's class and dignity. If I'm a player, he's the guy I want leading me.


Pay no attention to the man with the cam behind the curtain! Since players, coaches and Dr. Z say everyone cheats, and the advantages of Bill's cam are debatable, I point to his winning his first SB with NE in his second season there while Dungy needed six to get his one with Indy. Dungy's nicer -- Bill's an imperious codfish -- but until it's proven beyond a reasonable doubt that The Gweat & Tewwible Oz is a bigger cad than his peers, I stand by his record and Randy Moss behaving (so far).

Comments (71) Add A Comment

September 12, 2007  05:43 PM ET
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I'll wait til the end to vote cuz this looks like it'll get good.

September 12, 2007  05:56 PM ET
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Vote early, vote often. As we speak, I'm canvassing the graveyards of Chicago for support. -- John Rolfe, SI.com

September 12, 2007  06:06 PM ET
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In 2001, Brady was a good quarterback, but he wasn't a great quarterback. In 2001, Brady was told to not lose the game, he wasn't told to win the game. The reason the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2001 was because of the #1 scoring defense and because of their special teams, not because of Brady. It was in 2003 when Brady developed to become the great quarterback he is now.

September 12, 2007  06:08 PM ET
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It'll just get deleted like his other two did, because its not really Richard Deitsch

September 12, 2007  07:11 PM ET
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Dungy is a defensive genius, he turned around a worse franchise in Tampa than Bill did in NE....Pats had some kind of history.....

September 12, 2007  07:16 PM ET
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what? the Pats sucked too.

September 12, 2007  08:27 PM ET
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Die Kampfenden Iren von Notre Dame werden die Vielfrabe von Michigan schlagen. Ich garantiere es. Nimmt dass Mikrofon Hart! Deutsch. Ingenieurwesen. Im Haus.

September 12, 2007  08:29 PM ET
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Have to wait for more.

September 12, 2007  09:35 PM ET
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Irish is speaking in tongues tonight .

September 12, 2007  09:40 PM ET
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belichick by a mile

September 12, 2007  10:40 PM ET
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Dungy is the man. He leads a team with dignity and respect. I never heard a player say a bad thing about him as a coach or a person. God bless him! He's a good man and a from where I'm standing a really good coach. I don't think he cheats either...

September 13, 2007  10:45 AM ET
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what about jeff fisher?

September 13, 2007  11:19 AM ET
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Dungy wins hands down. He is the model all coaches should emulate. Look up class in the dictionary and you will see a picture of Dungy. Oh, and he has never cheated.

September 13, 2007  11:31 AM ET
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Right now I think everybody is gonna start leaning towards Dungy. Come'on owners of the NFL. If you know someone is cheating tell the Commish. Plus, I do think Dungy is the better Coach beacause the influence he give to his players. I'm sure we'll meet them in the playoffs again, and it's gonna be a good one.

September 13, 2007  11:43 AM ET
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Maybe Belichick could videotape Dungy to see how a coach gets it done without videotaping?

September 13, 2007  11:48 AM ET
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RINGS!
Who are the greatest coaches in NFL history? They all have something in common...rings.

September 13, 2007  11:57 AM ET
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Belicheater lost a lot of points in my book after this week. I always respected him but now I look at him differently. He cheated, broke the rules and got caught. There is no difference between him and Barry Bonds.

September 13, 2007  12:02 PM ET
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I have to vote Dungy. He spent time as Franchise builder at a couple of different places. He won a superbowl and maybe should have more. One of the winingest coaches ever and a 100% class act unlike Darth Bill.

September 13, 2007  12:44 PM ET
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I love how the world over has already assumed that the Colts haven't been doing the same videotaping of signals for years.

This stuff is probably rampant throughout the NFL, but the Pats decided to bring it from out behind a glass-encased private box an onto the sidelines for a better view.

Nooo, Dungy's too kind and gentle. He's a God-loving man who would never be part of such a thing.

 
September 13, 2007  01:04 PM ET
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RINGS!
Who are the greatest coaches in NFL history? They all have something in common...rings.

TEXANSFAN | 09/13/07

By your logic we should have made Liberace' a head coach in the NFL and he would have been the best. LOL

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