Tony Dungy led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs in four of his six seasons, yet Tampa Bay fired him after the 2001 campaign. One year later, the team he turned into a contender won its first Super Bowl under Jon Gruden. Now, nearly 25 years on, the Hall of Fame coach is revisiting the dismissal and admits the period was “hard” and “painful.”

“It was painful because I got there and there was a losing tradition,” Dungy said on The Sage Steele Show. “A lot of people told me, ‘Don’t take the job. It’s, it’s a graveyard for coaches. Don’t do it.’ But I wanted to. It was enjoyable. We went from 13 straight losing seasons to playoffs four years out of six, that far from the Super Bowl.

“And then to have them say, ‘Well, we don’t think you’re the guy who can take us over the top. We’re going in a different direction.’ That was hard. That was painful. And by that time, we loved the city. We just enjoyed everything about it. You’ve got this closeness with the players. And so that was really difficult.”

Tony Dungy played for only three years in the NFL. He took to coaching immediately afterwards, recording stints as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings. He did not expect to secure the head coaching job at Tampa Bay.

“When I was called to interview at Tampa,” Dungy said in 2019, via I Am Second. “I told Lauren, [my wife], that we’re not going to get this job. I don’t know anybody there. I have no connections. But I came down there feeling like this is where God wants us. We are going to win. Everything’s going to be great because this is God’s plan. It’s not my plan.”

Somewhat to his own surprise, the offer came, and he accepted. The team he inherited was in rough shape, having endured more than a decade of straight losing seasons. In fact, the franchise had recorded only three winning seasons (including the shortened 1982 season, in which the Bucs were 5-4) before Tony Dungy arrived

Dungy went 6-10 in his first season as head coach of the Bucs. Things turned around fast, though. By his second year, Tampa Bay went 10-6 and made the playoffs. The 1999, 2000, and 2001 seasons were straight winning seasons for Dungy.

However, the Bucs had been hoping for Dungy to get them Lombardi. With four trips to the postseason and consistent failures there, Dungy might have lost the appeal on the top brass. He was fired after the 2001 season, and in came Jon Gruden, who won the Buccaneers their first Super Bowl in 2002.

Dungy wasn’t out of work for long. The Indianapolis Colts knew exactly what kind of coach he was, and they hired him only eight days after he was let go by Tampa Bay. As the Colts’ head coach, Dungy won five division titles and reached the playoffs every year he was in charge, but the Super Bowl kept slipping away, just as it had in Tampa.

On February 4, 2007, the Colts finally beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI, and Dungy became the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl. His coaching legacy is highlighted by this win, and his commendable win-loss record of 148 wins and 79 losses (including postseason records).

For what it’s worth, Tampa Bay has inducted Tony Dungy into its Ring of Honor, as they should. He was the first coach to make a consistent contender out of the Buccaneers, and helped turn around a team that was beleaguered before his arrival.

So yes, leaving the Bucs hurt. But looking at everything that followed, Dungy ended up with exactly what he deserved.