(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
In recent years, coaches in both the NFL and NBA have been subjected to in-game interviews, and one has to wonder how annoying it must be for them.
One has to assume they would rather remain fully focused on their team and what is transpiring in the game.
Tony Dungy, one of the more successful and respected NFL coaches ever, has been an analyst for NBC’s coverage of NFL games for years now, and he said on “The Dan Patrick Show” that while he’s OK with interviews in-between quarters, he wouldn’t cooperate with doing an interview in the middle of a quarter.
“If you come up to me and say, ‘You have to do an interview’ in the middle of the third quarter, when the game’s going on, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to be the worst interview you can have so that you’ll never ask me again,” Dungy said.
“If you come up to me and say ‘you have to do an interview’ in the middle of the 3rd quarter, when the game’s going on, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to be the worst interview you can have so that you’ll never ask me again.”
–@TonyDungy on in-game interviews pic.twitter.com/PEbrPhIVnN
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 1, 2024
A former NFL defensive back, Dungy started his head coaching career in 1996 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that at the time had long been a laughingstock since its inception in 1976.
But he started to build a culture there, and as the roster became richer in talent, the Buccaneers not only started to win but quickly built a distinct identity as a hard-hitting defensive-minded squad.
Dungy was largely responsible for the creation of the Tampa 2 defense, which is a variation of the traditional Cover 2 defense.
Though he was fired after the 2001 season, the following year, the Buccaneers won their first Super Bowl championship with a roster he had helped to create.
Dungy then moved on to become head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, and after several disappointing playoff defeats, he finally got them over the hump in the 2006 season when they won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
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