Dungy ready to debate life in, out of football

INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Dungy still enjoys the challenge of coaching.

He just has to decide whether commuting from Indianapolis to see his wife and children in Florida is worth it.

Dungy will spend this week contemplating his future as coach of the Colts, continuing his annual ritual of heading home to Tampa, Fla., to determine whether he can adequately balance football life with family life.

A decision isn't expected to be announced publicly until next week.

"There are family issues and other things you'd like to do," Dungy said Sunday. "But the bottom line is we have a fun team to coach. We have some great players, we have a team I know can win, and I still enjoy it. So we'll try to balance those two and see what happens."

In Dungy's 13 seasons as a head coach, seven in Indianapolis and six with Tampa Bay, he's put together a sparkling resume.

He has 148 career wins, including playoffs, and ranks 19th all-time in victories. He's the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, the first coach in league history to reach the postseason in 10 consecutive seasons and the only coach to preside over six straight seasons of 12 wins or more.

If Dungy returns next season and the Colts win 12 games again, he would pass former Vikings coach Bud Grant, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher and tie Hall of Famer Paul Brown for 13th all-time.

But Dungy has never been the kind of coach who sleeps in his office, dwells on achievements or spends countless hours away from his family. A top priority is being a dedicated husband and father.

Since winning the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, Dungy has thought long and hard each offseason about how much longer he really wants to work in the NFL.

Two years ago, he acknowledged there was a temptation to retire after winning the Super Bowl. He pondered retirement again last January, but returned after Colts owner Jim Irsay agreed to make assistant coach Jim Caldwell the eventual successor and offered Dungy the use of a private jet to visit his family, which now lives year-round in Florida.

Clearly, many in the organization want Dungy back.

Team president Bill Polian has repeatedly said he hopes Dungy sticks around with the Colts longer than he does.