Tony Dungy’s memoir “Quiet Strength” is a compelling read about the author’s life and the principles and values that have guided it. Living these out enabled the author to overcome tremendous personal and professional adversity including his son’s suicide in 2005.
Dungy grew up in Jackson, Michigan in a strong, middle-class family. Following high school he became the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Gophers. That was followed by a glorious (Super Bowl win) but brief (only three years) career as an NFL player. At age 25 he became one of the youngest coaches in the NFL, coaching as an assistant for several teams the next fifteen years. Finally, in 1996 he landed the head coaching job at Tampa Bay. There he built the team from being perennial losers to Super Bowl champs. Unfortunately, he was fired the year before the Bucs went to the big game – another bitter pill to swallow. He did eventually did make it to the championship game, winning it as coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2006.
Throughout the book the author writes about his faith and demonstrates how living it out is much more important than winning or losing football games. Dungy quotes Matthew 16:26 as his reason, “For what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?”
Another recurring theme is “staying the course.” Speaking of his coaching, and life’s philosophy Dungy writes, “We’re going to do what we do. Stay the course. Our biggest temptation will be to think we need to do something different.”
Dungy comes across as a humble man of faith with much to teach about the art of living. I found his thoughts about what makes for a successful life inspiring. Thoughts like this:
God’s definition of success is really one of significance – the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. This significance doesn’t show up in win-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we’ve lived.
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