Wow. In the past few seasons, we've seen several tenured head coaches leave the NFL, or at least the sidelines. We've seen Bill Cowher and Mike Holmgren retire, Bill Parcells leaving the sidelines for the press box, and Marty Schottenheimer unable to find a job. We can add another. Tony Dungy, having won 139 total games during his 13-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts, announced his retirement Monday. BBS writes up a hellva tribute on Dungy.
During his seven years in Indianapolis, Dungy never won less than 10 games, made the playoffs every season, and finished with a .759 winning percentage (85-27) -- that's just barely over winning over three quarters of the games. Against the Bengals, Dungy finished his coaching career undefeated (6-0) with winning by an average of 17.2 points. 17.2 POINTS?!
| Date | Team | Score |
| 12.27.1998 | Tampa Bay | 35-0 |
| 12.2.2001 | Tampa Bay | 16-13 |
| 10.6.2002 | Indianapolis | 28-21 |
| 11.20.2005 | Indianapolis | 45-37 |
| 12.18.2006 | Indianapolis | 34-16 |
| 12.7.2008 | Indianapolis | 35-3 |
| 32.2 - 15.0 |
Just to make the picture rather clear, Dungy's 27 losses with the Colts, having coached seven seasons, is nearly double Lewis' losses in six seasons with the Bengals.
Segue.
So how's Lewis done in six seasons? Well, when he arrived in Cincinnati, there was unprecedented level of hope, with several younger fans too young to even know what it was like to cheer for a winning team. After 2003, hope turned into promise, plus Carson Palmer, making 2004 another... well, we're still rebuilding, right. It's alright. Palmer only played 13 games, suffered an injury against the Patriots, so 2005 was the year -- to lose Palmer again, then to the Steelers, then our minds watching police wires go berserk. Then 2006 was choke, 2007 was simply disappointing, and 2008 was, well, WDR was born.
We could recap the tenure, but honestly, I'm saving that document for another day. Perhaps this time next year?