Quotes About Tony Dungy

#1. The Lord has a plan. We always think the plans are A, B, C and D, and everything is going to be perfect for us and it may not be that way, but it's still his plan.

Tony Dungy

#2. I don't have the strength or wisdom to get through a single day without guidance and grace from God.

Tony Dungy

#3. Winning would create greater potential for change than talk alone.

Tony Dungy

#4. Things will go wrong at times. You can't always control your attitude, approach, and response. You options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better

Tony Dungy

#5. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching; its doing the right thing all the time, even when it may work to your disadvantage.

Tony Dungy

#6. Change isn't always bad; we should always be learning and improving. But the change I was seeing involved principles, not procedures.

Tony Dungy

#7. Everything's not going to go perfect. You're going to have some losses that you're going to have to bounce back from and some things that are a little unforeseen that you're going to have to deal with.

Tony Dungy

#8. We wanted guys who had been productive in college, and we made it a point to pick performance over potential.

Tony Dungy

#9. Pain prompts us to change behavior that is destructive to ourselves or to others. Pain can be a highly effective instructor.

Tony Dungy

#10. We've got guys who aren't wrapping guys up ... No matter how hard you hit them, you've still got to wrap them up.

Tony Dungy

#11. God allows us to feel pain for a reason: to protect us.

Tony Dungy

#12. That's the difference between the NCAA and the NFL right now. They've got to step up and say, 'We're going to do the right thing. We're going to hire qualified people. We're going to hire the best man for the job regardless of what boosters or anyone else has to say.'

Tony Dungy

#13. Anyone who's a parent dreads that call in the middle of the night. I have four grown children and I still dread it.

Tony Dungy

#14. I just don't think you pass on a great quarterback if you have the opportunity. If need be, you can trade it away.

Tony Dungy

#15. Integrity doesn't come in degrees: low, medium, or high. You either have integrity or you don't.

Tony Dungy

#16. If someone needs help, I can offer advice. I'm not always right and people don't always listen.

Tony Dungy

#17. As a young kid, I had a great background. My grandfather was a minister; I have two uncles that were ministers, and so I had that spiritual background. I accepted Christ early as a kid.

Tony Dungy

#18. Who really benefits from discouragement? More often than not, encouragement is exactly what is needed.

Tony Dungy

#19. Keeping ridiculous hours doesn't mean you'll be successful.

Tony Dungy

#20. Character is the glue that bonds solid and meaningful relationships

Tony Dungy

#21. I think I can always look back and say my mom and dad would have done this or suggested that in a particular situation. I just really feel blessed to have had them as parents.

Tony Dungy

#22. There are weaknesses that you have to understand and it takes a lot of discipline for the players to be able to play it effectively and have confidence in what they're doing.

Tony Dungy

#23. You should never be defined by what you do, by the things you have; you've got to define yourself by who you are and who you impact and how you impact people. And that's the thing I try to get across to my players.

Tony Dungy

#24. I guess I'm flattered that people think I can help get things done.

Tony Dungy

#25. Nothing is more deflating to morale than to have a poor outcome pinned on someone who doesn't deserve it. It lacks integrity and overvalues the outcome at the expense of the people as well as the process.

Tony Dungy

#26. If we have trouble hearing Him, He will faithfully work in our lives until we are pointed in the direction He wants us to go.

Tony Dungy

#27. The game has changed since the '70s as more coaches have looked at ways to make it tougher on defenses. But I'm glad my career turned out the way it did - I would have never gotten a chance to learn the defensive side of the ball.

Tony Dungy

#28. When things get difficult it can be easy to complain. How you respond makes all the difference

Tony Dungy

#29. We're not hitting on all cylinders, defensively. When we're playing good, I'll let you know.

Tony Dungy

#30. We want to enjoy our families and the hype leading up to the game.

Tony Dungy

#31. For some reason the football coach of a major college program is seen as one of the leaders of the campus. And some way we have to let our young people know that that leader can look like anyone.

Tony Dungy

#32. Once we had become locked in on a schedule, he (Coach Denny Green) often created a disruption (artificial adversity) to that schedule just to see how guys would respond.

Tony Dungy

#33. We believed it was not our formations that made us good, but rather how we played.

Tony Dungy

#34. Be intentional and choose to envision a life of significance, possibility, and impact.

Tony Dungy

#35. You'll not find the life God intended for you in relationships seeking immediate and personal gratification - even the

Tony Dungy

#36. The fundamental keys to the culture of any organization can only be achieved when everyone is on the same page.

Tony Dungy

#37. I needed to do my current job well, keep preparing, and wait on God's timing. I needed to trust His leadership rather than try to force an outcome I wanted.

Tony Dungy

#38. I learned it doesn't matter how you win. You play to your team's strength.

Tony Dungy

#39. When I was young, I didn't like to read. I would have much rather been outside doing something than been inside reading about it.

Tony Dungy

#40. You can have an impact anywhere you are.

Tony Dungy

#41. DON'T FEAR FAILURE. Fear being successful at things that don't matter

Tony Dungy

#42. What's important is not the accolades and memories of success but the way you respond when opportunities are denied.

Tony Dungy

#43. The further I get away from coaching, the more I know I made the right decision. You almost forget how wonderful family life is.

Tony Dungy

#44. First, there is no typical grief cycle, and second, it's not something I went through. I'm still grieving.

Tony Dungy

#45. I was able to look at football as something that God was allowing me to do, not something that should define me. I couldn't take my identity from this sport.

Tony Dungy

#46. A good leader gets people to follow him because they want to, not because he makes them.

Tony Dungy

#47. What will people remember us for? Are other people's lives better because we lived? Did we make a difference? Did we use to the fullest the gifts and abilities God gave us? Did we give our best effort, and did we do it for the right reasons?

Tony Dungy

#48. Nothing does more to lubricate the rough spots than a good dose of encouragement.

Tony Dungy

#49. But there's no substitute for a full-time dad. Dads who are fully engaged with their kids overwhelmingly tend to produce children who believe in themselves and live full lives.

Tony Dungy

#50. If you're a leader, people's lives should be better because of the influence you've had along the way.

Tony Dungy

#51. What's important is not the uniform or the number, and it's not what team you play for or whether anyone else sees your value; it's who you are on the inside. And when you're in Christ, that's never going to change.

Tony Dungy

#52. They were unwillingly to give 100 percent if they didn't personally think it was important. What you don't understand is the champions know it's all important.

Tony Dungy

#53. I realized that I needed to be more like the shepherd than the hired hand in protecting my team.

Tony Dungy

#54. How you use the opportunities your given to affect the world around you will determine the legacy you leave behind.

Tony Dungy

#55. My parents had a strong impact on who I am today. My mother and dad both encouraged us to think about the long term - where you wanted to be - to think about education, to think about what is right and what is wrong, and to do things that will help you in the long run.

Tony Dungy

#56. The Lord doesn't always take you in a straight line. He tests you sometimes.

Tony Dungy

#57. I know that not everybody gets to coach an NFL team, and I want to do that as well as I can all the time. That's my motivation. I want to help my players to be as good as they can be.

Tony Dungy

#58. I've said all along that God is in control.

Tony Dungy

#59. Did you know that nearly one in three children live apart from their biological dads? Those kids are two to three times more likely to grow up in poverty, to suffer in school, and to have health and behavioral problems.

Tony Dungy

#60. Coach Noll had always told me, Being stubborn is a virtue when you're right; it's only a character flaw when you're wrong.

Tony Dungy

#61. I enjoy watching football on TV. Many times I can visualize the whole field, even on the TV screen, because I still know enough about what the teams are doing.

Tony Dungy

#62. It's easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal when you're in the trenches.

Tony Dungy

#63. Courage is the ability to do the right thing, all the time, no matter how painful or uncomfortable it might be.

Tony Dungy

#64. We often can't see what God is doing in our lives, but God sees the whole picture and His plan for us clearly.

Tony Dungy

#65. Don't worry about your platform; focus on your impact.

Tony Dungy

#66. It's definitely harder being a dad than a coach.

Tony Dungy

#67. The first thing you have to do is make sure you're still wanted back. I never take that for granted any more.

Tony Dungy

#68. It's the journey that matters. Learning is more important than the test. Practice well, and the games will take care of themselves.

Tony Dungy

#69. The best solution for falling just short of the goal is to focus on the fundamentals but perform them better.

Tony Dungy

#70. I was a quarterback in college. I hoped to go to the NFL, and I didn't get drafted. I then became a free agent. I could sign with whoever I wanted to, and I ended up going to Pittsburgh.

Tony Dungy

#71. I learned from Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh that speed and explosiveness on defense is the way to build a team. Both are difficult for your opponent to assimilate in practice and then in games it is even harder to match.

Tony Dungy

#72. You're born with some things inside you that will allow you to lead, but I think you have to take the bull by the horns. You have to want that leadership position, and then there are things you can do to develop that.

Tony Dungy

#73. If people didn't know me and only knew my public persona, what I'd want them to know is everything that I do, I do for the Glory of Lord. Because of my Christian faith, that's who I am. I wasn't always that way, but I'm very proud that I am.

Tony Dungy

#74. I wouldn't have taken him. Not because I don't believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn't want to deal with all of it. [ ... ] It's not going to be totally smooth things will happen.

Tony Dungy

#75. When Jim Irsay called me five years ago, he told me, 'I want you to be our coach and help us win the Super Bowl.' He told me, 'We are going win it the right way. We are going to win it with great guys; win it with class and dignity. We are going to win it in a way that will make Indianapolis proud.'

Tony Dungy

#76. So, when it comes to effective leadership, it's not about you and what makes you comfortable or helps you get ahead. It's about other people. It's about serving God by serving others. That's the mind-set of the mentor leader.

Tony Dungy

#77. What you do is not as important as how you do it.

Tony Dungy

#78. Stubbornness is a virtue if you are right.

Tony Dungy

#79. You need togetherness because you don't always win, and you have got to hang though together

Tony Dungy

#80. As humans, we don't know what we should do. We don't have those instincts like God has given animals. We have to see to know where we are going. It is just a natural human emotion to look for people to emulate.

Tony Dungy

#81. To win those big games you're going to have to complete some third-down passes, you're going to have to be able to get some explosive games in the passing game.

Tony Dungy

#82. We spent our whole married life in the ultra-competitive world of professional football, Lauren and I had always tried to view it through God's eyes. As much fun as it was to be winning, we tried not to get caught up in it. We knew that our family life and our faith walk were more important.

Tony Dungy

#83. If you're just saying, hey, I'm doing this. I'm working to make money. I'm working to increase my status. If that's all there is, I think you will find out that it's meaningless.

Tony Dungy

#84. It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Tony Dungy

#85. Football was really my least favorite sport and the last sport that I ended up picking up as a kid. My dad started me off with baseball, which most kids did at that time. I really enjoyed basketball. That was my favorite sport.

Tony Dungy

#86. The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better.

Tony Dungy

#87. I have yet to hear God's audible voice, although I have often felt led by God in more subtle ways.

Tony Dungy

#88. Moving from desire to actually doing better is only achieved with self-discipline, and self-discipline only works effectively when you trust in Him to help. Amp up your self-discipline in the areas you need it most.

Tony Dungy

#89. But I know I have a son who doesn't listen to anything I say and if he hears the same thing from someone else, sometimes it has a little more impact.

Tony Dungy

#90. I enjoy talking to young people, and talking to people about helping young people. That part is not a chore. It's pretty fun, and something I like to do because I think it's important.

Tony Dungy

#91. My heart's toward youth ministry, but I don't know. I never would have thought I would have written a book. And God kind of directed that. So we'll see what the next is.

Tony Dungy

#92. God's loving plan to save sinners started with Jesus' death and resurrection. The influence God calls you to have for His Kingdom is very simple: just tell the world what He did for you.

Tony Dungy

#93. Don't shed any tears for me. I got to live a dream most people don't get to live.

Tony Dungy

#94. There are two schools of thought. You can be basic and spend all your time on what your opponents are going to do. Or, you can be very multiple and complex, put a lot of doubt in your opponents' minds and create problems for them with the volume of things you do.

Tony Dungy

#95. If I can't get the captains to respond appropriately and show the leadership I expect, how is anyone else going to respond?

Tony Dungy

#96. If we do what we do without panicking, we can accomplish great things.

Tony Dungy

#97. Without Peyton, there would be no Lucas Oil Stadium. This team would be playing in L.A. right now. I don't understand Jim saying this.

Tony Dungy

#98. Others first. Whatever your corporate mission, paint a clear and compelling picture that others can understand and embrace. State your mission in terms that appeal to your team's best instincts. Persuade and empower as if you are leading and mentoring volunteers.

Tony Dungy

#99. At the end of the day, the only people a One Voice doctrine silences are those who should be the most loyal.

Tony Dungy

#100. You may not win the Super Bowl. Your kids may not go on to be doctors and lawyers and everything may not go perfectly. That doesn't mean it was a bad plan or the wrong thing. It's just like a football season. Everything's not going to go perfect.

Tony Dungy