Double Your Pleasure: Not One - but Two African-American Head Coaches Have a Chance to Make History

I guess it is only fitting that in this time of celebration for beloved civil rights leader and national icon, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that, not only one, but two, African-American men have a chance to make history and continue to build on the virtues that King espoused throughout his lifetime.

I'll also go on record and agree with the only African-American quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl title (1987), former Washington Redskin, Doug Williams, and admit how important it is for many African-Americans that a man of color, either the Indianapolis Colts' Tony Dungy or the Chicago Bears' Lovie Smith, this year or someone else in the near future, eventually lead his team to the ultimate victory in North America's most popular sport.

"That may not be significant to some people, but it is significant," Williams said in a recent interview. "For African-Americans like myself and others who played or coached in the league, we are pulling for Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith to get over the hump. The big key is they've got opportunities."

After battling racial injustices for years, both in the NFL and in life in general, men of color are now soaring to new heights and Dungy and Smith are just two examples of the success that balck men are now acheiving throughout the league.

Case in point. The NFL had a record, seven African-American head coaches in 2006 and a record 197 coaches overall and this is also the first time that two African-American coaches have reached conference title games in the same season.

"We can say that it really shouldn't matter, but we know that it does," said John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization that monitors and promotes the hiring of minority coaches. "That's why it's rewarding to see that Tony and Lovie have reached this point. I'm proud of them. And they are so aware of the historical context."

This past Monday, the national holiday for Dr.King, the New York Giants named Jerry Reese as the third African-American general manager in NFL history.

"Dr. King has to be smiling about all of this," Wooten said.

Smith, hired by Dungy for his first NFL job in with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996, recently said: "I can say, 'Nah, I don't feel any pressure. I'm just like anybody else trying to win.' That's all true. But there are not a lot of black coaches. In order for others to get a chance, the ones in position need to do well."

Wooten said he congratulated Dungy and Smith for winning divisional games, then reminded them of the possibility they could meet in Miami for Super Bowl XLI.

"Lovie said, 'Let's not talk about that any further. Otherwise, both of us will be crying,' " Wooten said. "That was pretty funny."

All jokes aside, here is a short profile on both coaches and a prediction on who will be the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl title.

Lovie Smith
Smith began his professional coaching career as a linebacker coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Under the guidance of Dungy, Smith helped develop the Tampa Bay defense into one of the league's very best. After spending four years with Buccaneers, Smith was hired as the defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams under head coach, Mike Martz.

The Chicago Bears hired Smith in 2004, following the fall-out of Dick Jauron. He struggled during his first season with the Bears, as a streak of injuries gave the bears a 5-11 record. Despite their poor offense, the Bears' defense saw some major improvement, rising from 22nd in 2003 to 13th in 2004.

Smith was forced to cope with a 1-3 starting record in 2005, but managed to rally his team to win eight consecutive games. While rookie quarterback Kyle Orton struggled, the Bears' defense kept opposing offenses at bay, while putting up points and enabling kicker Doug Brien (and later Robbie Gould) to win games. The Bears finished the season with an 11-5 record, and the NFC's second playoff seed. Additionally, the Bears recorded the league's best defense in terms of points allowed, while ranking second in total yards allowed.

The Bears' dramatic turn around earned Smith national recognition, which culminated with an Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year Award. This season, the Bears finished with a 13-3 record, earning the NFC's top playoff seed, posting NFL's second overall offense, and third overall defense.

Tony Dungy
Following his retirement as a player from the NFL, Dungy was invited to become an assistant coach for his alma mater, the University of Minnesota in 1980. After one season in charge of defensive backs, he was asked to come back to the NFL as a coach. He was hired as an assistant coach with the Steelers by Chuck Noll, his former coach, in 1981.

In 1982, he was named defensive backfield coach, and was promoted in 1984 to defensive coordinator. His defenses achieved success, and he was often projected to become the first African-American head coach. He left the Steelers in 1989 to become the defensive backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, and took over the defensive coordinator position for the Minnesota Vikings in 1992. While at Minnesota, Dungy's defense was ranked first in the NFL.

Although Dungy continually got bypassed in favor of lesser white coaches and was not the first African-American to become an NFL head coach, Dungy finally achieved his dream when he was hired as head coach by Rich McKay to reform the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team well-known for its lack of success, in 1995.

In 1997, the Buccaneers finished second in the NFC Central division, Tampa Bay's first winning season since 1982, and defeated the Detroit Lions in its first playoff game. Dungy's watch, the Buccaneers went to the playoffs three times and won its division in 1999 only to lose to the St Louis Rams in the NFC Championship Game. Dungy was fired by the team in 2001 due to the club's repeated losses in the playoffs.

On January 22, 2002, Dungy was hired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, a team that, at the time, was very potent offensively, but very weak defensively.

Since his arrival in Indianapolis, Dungy has struggled to fix the Colts' defense, and has had mixed results in the postseason. In his first season, the Colts were shut out 41-0 by the New York Jets in a first-round playoff game, and the team lost postseason games to the New England Patriots in both 2003 (in the AFC championship game) and 2004 (in the second round of the playoffs). Dungy signed a three-year contract extension in 2005 for $5 million per year.

That same year, widely expected to be a Super Bowl contender, the Colts won their first 13 games but were defeated in the divisional playoff series against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which made the Colts the first team to ever start a season 13-0 and not reach the Super Bowl.

This season, the Colts finished 12-4 despite fielding the league's worst run defense during the regular season, which has surprisingly stiffend up during their run to the AFC Championship game.

My Pick:
It's funny that I had the chance to write this column about two African-American men having the opportunity to become the first man of color to win a Super Bowl title, because I genuinely beleive that each coach's team is going to win their respective conference championship matchup, making the Super Bowl an all-African-American coaching affair.

Now, I could be totally wrong (not!) but I have always believed that Dungy would be the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl title and I'm going to stick with that. It's not that I necessarily think Dungy is a better coach than Smith, I just think the Colts and more specifically, quarterback, Peyton Manning are finally ready for their big breakthrough.
However, as Williams succinctly put it, I guess it really doesn't matter who wins as long as one of them does.

"The main thing for any of them is to win," says Williams, who was MVP of Super Bowl XXII and is now a personnel executive with the Bucs. "That's why they are coaching. But we want to get to the point where it happened. They've come close before. At some point, someone's got to finish.