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Tony Dungy is a patient man. He waited 16 years to become an NFL head coach. It took him 27 years before one of his teams won the Super Bowl. So, obviously, the Pro Football Hall of Famer believes in endurance and patience.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – SEPTEMBER 09: Tony Dungy looks on prior to a game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium on September 09, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Dungy: Patience May Bring Super Bowls

That makes him no fan of what New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders did this week in firing their head coaches after one season. Both teams fired their head coaches – Jerod Mayo and Antonio Pierce respectively – after one full season.

“I’m just so sad at New England and the Las Vegas Raiders. You pick coaches and after one year you say, “Well, I guess I was wrong.” I don’t know, but we’re in this impatient portal, I guess, and I want success right away and I want to see results,” Dungy said on Wednesday.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame coach was visiting with Dan Dakich on OutKick’s Don’t@Me, discussing multiple topics, when the conversation turned to the current coaching cycle and the firings that kicked it off.

“My coach at Pittsburgh, Chuck Noll, I think was the best coach ever,” Dungy said. “He was 1-13 his first year. I played for Bill Walsh his first year. After we won the Super Bowl [with the Steelers], I got traded to the Niners. We were 2-14. And today, these coaches wouldn’t survive.

“But that’s seven Super Bowls.”

Jets ‘Dysfunctional’ For Multiple Reasons

Dungy’s also not too fond of what the New York Jets are about now based on things that happened this year, including becoming the first team to fire its coach the first week of October.

“Well, again, the Jets to me are a dysfunctional franchise,” Dungy said. “I was disappointed when they let Robert Saleh go. They were 2-3, you’re right in the middle of the playoff race you get rid of your coach. How do you think that’s going to make you better?”

Dungy’s not done with the Jets. He also disagrees with that team’s approach to giving quarterback Aaron Rodgers so much say over player acquisition and, yes, even hiring certain assistant coaches.

“That’s not how you win,” he said. “Yes, you want your star to be happy. You want him to be comfortable. But, as you say, you still have to be in charge, not the player.”

Dungy coached the Colts from 2002 to 2008 before retiring. But he is obviously close to the organization and observed their decision-making process with coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard.

Both were retained despite calls by some media and fans to have them fired after an 8-9 season. 

CANTON, OH – AUGUST 4, 2016: 2016 Hall of Fame enshrinee, coach Tony Dungy pumps his fist to the crowd after receiving his gold jacket during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket Dinner on August 4, 2016 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

Dungy: NFL Owners Bow To Public Opinion

“I have to say I was a little surprised but I’m happy about it because I think you want the continuity, you want to keep growing and if you pick these guys and had confidence in them to keep that going and say, ‘Hey, I believe in you and we’re going to keep working on this,” I think it’s great,” Dungy said.

“If you make a decision based on one year and one little slice, it just doesn’t make sense. So, I’m happy the Colts are staying with it and I hope it produces good results.”

Dungy is a truth teller and has experience dealing with NFL ownership both from his time playing and coaching in the league and as an analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. And he thinks owners routinely bow to public opinion.

It factors into these decisions.

“I think it very much is,” Dungy said. “The social media and just hearing everything from everything – the talk shows, sports radio – all of that factors in,” Dungy said. “That owner is sitting there and he’s hearing, ‘Boy, your team is terrible, your franchise is awful.’

“And you want to get the results. And sometimes it’s hard to filter that out and say, ‘You know what? I believe in my guys and we’re going to go.’ It takes a strong person to do that.”

And Dungy believes it’s the right way to go.