Dungy, Colts in familiar spot as minicamp begins

alen1 · May 17, 2008

He is back for the 2008 season, but queries remain for how much longer? Tony Dungy still gets those questions from several circles. He understands it.

It is a question he occasionally asks himself.

''I didn't think I would go this far,'' Dungy said on Friday morning as his Indianapolis Colts convened for a mandatory three-day minicamp that kicks off his seventh season in blue and white. ''I thought after the 2005 season, after my 25th year in the league, that would be the end. Well, I'm beyond that now."

He is back, in part, because his owner, Jim Irsay, told him he needed him. He is back to help open the Colts' new home, Lucas Oil Stadium. He returns, in part, because he knows he once again has the ingredients for a marvelous team.

This time around, his family lives in Tampa while he resides in Indianapolis.

''That's going fine,'' Dungy, 52, said. ''But it's not something I want to do forever. My dad did it a long time, working away from the family. Lots of people do it. I don't think it's too much. We'll see how it plays out.

''At the end of the month or first part of June, we will blow up the old stadium. We've walked through the new place. Phenomenal. The feeling the Colts have about the city is something. It's great to be a part of. There is a connection. It's grown since I got here and has become more involved. It's not just the winning. It goes past the scoreboard.''

The ''winning,'' though, is an essential part of that bond.

The Colts have earned six straight postseason berths. They have won five straight AFC South titles. They were Super Bowl XLI champions only 15 months ago.

Dungy's trademark with the Colts has been to play fast and then faster and to employ discipline, toughness and intelligence in overcoming all challenges. Those were benchmarks Dungy believed could lead to a second consecutive championship last season with quarterback Peyton Manning synchronizing it all.

But another Manning -- Eli of the Giants -- gained the last word last season. It was the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs who knocked the Colts off their pedestal in Indy's own backyard.
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