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Brother Doubts Dungy Interested in U
The
University of Minnesota’s wish list of candidates for the football job
probably has Tony Dungy’s name at the top.
For years people close to the athletic department have whispered Dungy’s
name and suggested the former Gopher quarterback would be the ideal
person to lead the football program.
As
coach of the Indianapolis Colts he has an annual playoff contender.
Before coming to Indy, he built a great defense in Tampa Bay as head
coach and later the Bucs won the Super Bowl under coach Jon Gruden.
Prior to Tampa Bay, his reputation as Vikings’ defensive coordinator
made him arguably the best assistant coach in franchise history.
At
51, Dungy has 11 years of head coaching experience in the NFL. He is
known as a quiet leader whose charisma can take over a room. Raised in
a family of educators, Dungy is admired for both his personal and
professional values. His coaching resume, outlook on life and ties to
Minnesota make him the easiest of candidates to wish for in the Gopher
coaching search.
Dungy
has made his affection for the University known. He came back here last
year to help with the legislative push for the new on-campus stadium.
He will be the featured speaker at the University of Minnesota Alumni
Association’s annual celebration event on Tuesday, May 8 at Mariucci
Arena.
Reality, however, seems to be that Dungy doesn’t consider himself a
college coach after all these years in the NFL. He said as much earlier
this week and in typical Dungy graciousness added he was flattered to be
mentioned, according to the Star Tribune.
Did
he absolutely mean what he said? His brother Linden, who lives
in the metro area, and two of his friends from this area said they don’t
believe Dungy is interested in the Gophers.
Linden said he hasn’t spoken to his brother since the Gopher job opened
up earlier this week but he would be “surprised” if
Tony expressed interest. “From my opinion they (any
contacts) would not be initiated by my brother,” he said. “When I look
at him at (age) 51 and being in the NFL for 26 years. …I don’t see him going
in that direction (college coaching).”
Linden added that Tony has a contract with the Colts, “always has
honored his contracts,” and likes his routine and what he is doing in
Indianapolis. Linden said, too, that when Dungy was a Viking assistant
coach the possibility of coaching the Gophers came up and his brother
wasn’t interested at that time.
John Williams, a Gopher on the 1967 Big Ten championship team,
played for the Los Angeles Rams when Dungy was a Pittsburgh Steeler
defensive back. “I think it’s wishful thinking (Dungy as Gopher
coach),” Williams said. “Minnesota is his alma mater but would he want
to leave one of the better NFL jobs, take a step down and not know what
he is getting into?”
Charles Sims is a former Gopher basketball player who developed a
friendship with Dungy while the two were in school here in the
mid-1970s. He doubts Dungy would have interest but mentioned that an
extraordinary compensation package (Alabama
lured Nick Saban with a reported guaranteed $32 million package)
might get his friend’s attention.
“I
don’t think so,” Sims said. “Why would he be (interested)? He has it
made with the Colts. How much is the University willing to pay? If
Saban type money, maybe.”
Dungy
is originally from Jackson, Michigan and with his background and name
recognition Sims thinks his close friend would be outstanding at
Minnesota. “I do think Tony would be a great coach,” Sims said. “He
could get (recruit) kids in Michigan and Ohio.”
Williams said coaching makes a difference, referencing a school like
Boise State that doesn’t have the high school all-Americans that
populate the rosters of big name college programs but yet found success
against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. “You don’t have to get the
rivals.com all-Americans,” Williams said. “That’s where the coaching
comes in.” |
TonyDungy's coaching resume, outlook on life
and ties to Minnesota make him the easiest of candidates to wish for in
the Gopher coaching search.
Linden Dungy
said he hasn’t spoken to his brother since the Gopher job opened up
earlier this week but he would be “surprised” if
Tony expressed interest.
“Why would he be (interested)? He has it
made with the Colts. How much is the University willing to pay? If
Saban type money, maybe.”
Charles Sims on close friend Tony Dungy
“You don’t have to get the rivals.com
all-Americans. That’s where the coaching comes in.”
John Williams, former Gopher star
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Vikings' TV Ratings Decline Again
For
the third consecutive season the Minnesota Vikings' local regular season
TV ratings slightly declined. The 2004 season rating was 34, with 31.6
in 2005 and 29.7 this year. A rating point is
a percentage of households watching a particular program.
The
Vikings, who finished the season last Sunday losing to the St. Louis
Rams, missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The rating
of 23.7 for the Ram game was the lowest of the season. The highest
rating for a single game was 34.3 against Seattle.
For
the first time in memory, the Vikings purchased newspaper advertising
before and during the 2006 season to sell tickets. While still holding
an enormous lead in popularity among other pro teams in town, the push
to sell tickets and the TV ratings indicate the Vikings’ popularity is
less than it was. However, a team spokesman said the franchise now has
sold out 94 consecutive pre-season and regular season games.
The
2004 season was the last one that quarterback Daunte Culpepper
and Randy Moss played together. Moss was
traded to Oakland after the 2004 season and Culpepper left for Miami in
a trade before the 2006 season. The 2004 Vikings not only had star gate
attractions in Moss and Culpepper but the team advanced to the
playoffs.
Moss
is not happy in Oakland and perhaps with a different coach than Brad
Childress and owner than Zygi Wilf there would be a chance
the controversial Moss could return here to a team badly in need of wide
receivers and box office attractions. Childress and Wilf have placed
such a premium on discipline that it’s unthinkable to imagine a Moss
return. |
Brad Childress
Childress and Wilf have placed such a
premium on discipline that it’s unthinkable to imagine a Moss return.
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Star Trib Sports Pages Rate High But…
The
Star Tribune produces one of the best sports sections in the country.
Routinely offering 10 pages or more, the Star Tribune has the space and
large staff to cover local events (from the prominent to obscure) better
than probably at any time in this market’s newspaper history. But
recent news about the sale of the newspaper and the morbid state of
newspapers across the country makes one wonder how much longer readers
will enjoy such thorough sports coverage.
When
circulation and ad revenues decline, newspapers cut back on staff and
space. Earlier this week there was news that Pennsylvania’s largest
newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, would terminate over 60 news
people. The St. Paul Pioneer Press parted ways with many reporters last
fall, including sportswriters, and for years there has been speculation
the paper will be replaced by the Star Tribune.
Gregg Wong, a sportswriter for the Pioneer Press for many years
before retiring in 2002, said his former paper doesn’t cover outstate
news like it once did and some time ago closed its Minneapolis bureau.
The paper has retrenched and Wong agrees that at some date in the future
the Twin Cities market will be a one newspaper town with the Star
Tribune in control. “It’s just the trend of the newspaper business,”
Wong said. “There are more and more one market towns.”
Talk
of declining circulation and ad revenues at the Star Tribune makes it
easier to understand how the newspaper could have been purchased for
$1.2 billion by the McClatchy Company in 1998 and sold to Avista Capital
Partners late last year for $530 million. Still, given the difference
in the two purchase prices it was a surprising sale.
Does
Wong think there will be cut backs in sports at the Star Tribune?
“Almost certainly,” he said. “Advertising dictates the size of the
paper. My guess is the paper will cut jobs. They have always been over
staffed. You see certain by-lines once per month. You wonder what
(else) they do.”
It’s
no fun to lose your job at a top newspaper like the Star Tribune even
with favorable severance packages. The pay scale for writers at both
the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press has long been among the best in the
country. Union policy dictates certain minimum pay levels depending on
years of service. A reporter with six years or more of service with the
newspaper will earn a minimum of $1,300.00 per week. Reporters and
columnists can earn considerably more than
minimum.
The
absence of younger readers, people in their 20s and 30s, has challenged
newspapers for years. Internet advertising is growing and ad revenue is
declining for many newspapers in the United States. Wong said the Star
Tribune made a redesign of its paper to attract a younger audience but
he and another source said the change hasn’t been successful.
If
the Star Tribune produces a smaller sports section will it bother him?
“To me it will probably be a loss as a reader,” he said. “The average
reader isn’t like me. Younger readers get their news from a BlackBerry,
Internet, radio and TV.”
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Recent news about the sale of the newspaper and
the morbid state of newspapers across the country makes one wonder how
much longer readers will enjoy such thorough sports coverage.
“Advertising dictates the size of the
paper. My guess is the paper will cut jobs."
Gregg Wong, former St. Paul sportswriter
“The average reader isn’t like me.
Younger readers get their news from a BlackBerry,
Internet, radio and TV.”
Gregg Wong
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Worth Noting &
Quoting
A lot
of names have drawn mention for the Minnesota football job but one that
hasn’t so far is former Gopher player and assistant coach Mo Forte.
He has college and pro coaching experience including with the Denver
Broncos as an assistant when they advanced to the 1990 Super Bowl.
Forte, who has been an assistant with Michigan State, the Detroit Lions
(coached Barry Sanders) and the Broncos, is head coach at the
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. His team finished the past season
at 8-4, including a school record seven consecutive wins. A member of
the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Forte’s team won the Western
Division championship, another first in school history.
The
Gopher-Texas Tech Insight Bowl game drew a 2.3 TV rating. It was
televised only on the NFL Network in this market and many cable
subscribers don’t have access to the network.
Marian Gaborik
of the Wild is scheduled
to appear and sign autographs at the Cub Foods store at 1801 Market Drive
in Stillwater from 5 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Also on Sunday, teammate
Mark Parrish
is scheduled to appear and sign autographs
at the Cub Foods store at 1729 Market Boulevard in Hastings from 5 to 6
p.m.
Each of the Wild's
first four first round draft picks (Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard
and
Brent Burns) will be featured on
commemorative pucks as part of the First Round Draft Pick Puck Series
this season. The first puck featuring Gaborik was given away to fans on
Tuesday night.
Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi coached the late
Chris
Farley of Saturday Night Live TV fame in football at Madison
Edgewood High School in Madison, Wisconsin in 1981.
John Rash, local media expert, will be a regular contributor on WCCO
Radio from 11:45 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, starting on
January 15. The “Rash Report” will cover media, advertising and pop
culture. Rash, an executive with the Campbell Mithun marketing and
communications agency in Minneapolis, will be joined on the show by
Eleanor Mondale and Jack Rice.
I
can’t find a sports or local angle to this but wondered if you heard
that a fourth “Indiana Jones” movie, starring Harrison Ford, will
debut in movie theatres in 2008?
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Joel Maturi
Each of the Wild's
first four first round draft picks (Marian
Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard
and
Brent Burns) will be featured on
commemorative pucks as part of the First Round Draft Pick Puck Series
this season.
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