Buccaneers: Four best coaches in team history
2. Tony Dungy
I think you all will recognize the last two choices for this list.
Dungy earned his first head coaching job here in Tampa. Prior to that he had been an assistant, most recently the defensive coordinator for the Vikings for the previous four seasons. After leading a Minnesota defense that was first in the league, the Bucs felt they had their man to replace Sam Wyche as head coach.
They were right and then some. After a 6-10 first year in 1996, Dungy’s team never finished worse than 8-8 and made four playoff appearances over the next five seasons. His tenure with the Bucs ended after the 2001 season, when the Bucs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card game. At the time of his firing, Dungy sported a record of 54-42. Team ownership felt that the offense was too conservative, so for the first time, the Bucs fired a coach with a winning record.
The following year, the Bucs won in their first and only Super Bowl appearance. Though he wasn’t the coach, Tony Dungy receives a great deal of credit for getting the team into the position to win that it was. With a few additions, the team that won the Lombardi trophy was the team that Dungy helped mold. He deserves a great deal of credit for the team being as good as it was. He is certainly worthy of a high rank on this list.