Tony Dungy on the Dan Patrick Show Full Interview | 8/1/24

Tony dunie Hall of Famer football night in America analyst kind enough to join us here uh let me start first ball good morning uh hey Dan good morning do you understand the new kickoff rule I really don't and uh you're you're taking it from a guy who kicked off to Devin Hester so we have to start with that okay and I was going to ask you about that with Devon Hester do how much credit do you take for Devon Hester going into the Hall of Fame tone I'm I'm going to congratulate him and I'm going to expect to get a little pat on the back because uh kicking off to him in the Super Bowl where he could do something nobody else in the history of football has done I think that helped him a little bit but you said all week long you weren't kicking off to Devon Hester two weeks then we practiced it and we had Adam kicking the balls everywhere we're punting out of bounds We're not gonna let this guy touch the ball and then uh the Friday before our the game our chaplain talks about David and Goliath and I start thinking am I afraid am I afraid like the Israelites were of goli no we're gonna kick right to Devon Hester just like David did I asked the chaplain after the game what was I thinking have you talked to Devon Hester about that I just and passing and joking that's exactly what he was doing on the football field that that night just passing you got him a gold jacket but the kickoff I'm not quite sure what it is but I am interested to watch it tonight I'm just not sure exactly what the strategies are going to be yeah I don't know either but I I do know this as a former coach I would look at this in the preseason and say you know what are my chances of kicking off and stopping them inside the 30 yard line I don't think it's very good from what I can tell so why would I take the chance on giving a Deon Hester or Cordell Patterson a chance in the open field to go go work I think you're going to see a lot more touchbacks than people think yeah but they're trying to encourage kind of some activity here yes yes I think they need to move that starting point if it is a Touchback maybe the 35 38 yard line something like that incourage me to try to make the play uh if I got a dangerous kick returner I'm GNA say you know what at 30 yard line is okay to me start at the 30 I'll Trust my defense and I I just think when you get into crucial situations you're going to see a lot of touchbacks when did it change putting in your starters in the preseason that you don't I I I'm not now maybe I'm in the minority tone but I would have Caleb Williams play just a little bit just just to go out there as the starter and get ready for that feeling tonight Dan um I made the team in Dallas or in Pittsburgh we're playing against the Dallas Cowboys the final preseason game Roger Starbuck is in at the end of the game throwing his 58th pass to win the game in the last preseason game we walked in I'm disappointed oh we lost to the Cowboys and you know that's how it was you you played and you you mapped things out when I was a coach hey our our starters are gonna play x amount of plays some guys need a little bit more the first year guys second year guys maybe they're going to play a little more but you map it out I think this salary cap and boy if I get someone hurt and what are we going to do we can't replace them I don't think you can coach in fear though and and I know my guys wanted to play some and get ready to go and get ready for the action and I I just I don't understand it but you know what happens Tony and it's going to happen again in September we're going to see Sloppy play and then you're going to have the media say hey why is it sloppy play and coaches will say well you know uh that we didn't have we didn't play in preseason like bellich and Brady always use September as their preseason there's nobody else like belich and Brady in NFL history so the other teams I don't know why they don't use this as let's get ready for the regular season not we'll get ready during the regular season I think Mike Tomlin said it best you really can't try to go win a heavyweight championship and never Spar once just just shadow box the whole time you better punch against somebody and get yourself ready now how much is that and how much the guys need everybody is different but I I know uh the good players that I've had in the the P if I told Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison they were not going to play in the preseason there would be a Revolt no we have to practice our craft we have to get ready now we don't need to play every play we don't need to be in in the fourth quarter but we need to get some live action what would be a successful season for Caleb Williams I think to come in and lead the team well and show that he has uh you know that franchise quarterback potential I wouldn't put a a figure on wins or or what CJ stri messed everything up because now we expect everybody to do that that was so rare and unbelievable uh keep in mind you know Peyton Manning was three and 13 and set a rookie record for interceptions his rookie year so it doesn't mean you have to go out there and light things up now I I do think it's a little easier for the quarterbacks now because the offense can be so much ahead of the defense they can get work done uh there's so much you can do walkthroughs defense can't get their feet on the ground until they you know have some liveaction and so forth so I think it's a little easier now but let let's just have him go out there and play well and let's not throw in the towel uh if he's six and 11 okay but could you tell what pton had to offer going three and 13 and setting the rookie record for intercept yes absolutely you can see it you can see when quarterbacks learn Trevor Lawrence I I I thought was going to be very very good even though it wasn't a superb rookie year but you see the control and you see after the games you don't see the the down head down oh we didn't win I threw two interceptions I didn't get the job done it was hey I learned out there and I'm going to be better for this and I still have the confidence of my teammates he's Tony dunie Hall of Famer football night in America analyst the in-game interviews with head coaches I I don't know enough about it I I don't like it because I can't imagine you guys are going to say anything or want to say anything well that's the problem I had a good conversation with Fred gelli uh from NBC yesterday and he talked about what they're trying to do and talked about having some of these interviews in between the quarters uh you know before the game starts those kind of I'm all for that I I was probably one of the most media friendly guys and if you let me determine when we're going to do it and hey I'll do it as I'm walking into the locker room at halftime but 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 you'll never ask me again because I don't want to do that I don't want to say anything and I don't want to mess up my train of thought in the course of a game so that's what I'm concerned about yeah but you run the risk of getting fined by the NFL if you don't cooperate oh I cooperate but I'm not going to say anything and I'm going to be as boring as I can be so you'll never ask me again all right let me let me try it let me try it here all right so I'm going to throw it down to you games tied fourth quarter and uh you got a big series coming up here and uh let's go down to head coach Tony dunie uh Tony what kind of Defense uh are you going to throw at Brock prie well Dan it's really a critical situation and and we just have to stop him and we're going to go out there and give it our best shot and you will see our first 11 guys out there okay but what's the strategy coach what what um hey we got we gotta press him we gotta press [Laughter] him you know and and I guess if you work with the coaches and you talk to them and when do you want to do this and hey can I do this as we're going into the locker room or as we're coming out that's one thing and I'm I'm okay and I'm going to give you everything I can yeah but you're not going to give any strategy away Tony like hey what uh what are you going and uh a second half adjustment coach what are you going to make well you know what we're going to do we're going to surprise them with a bomb on the first play the third quarter no danam we've got to get back to fundamentals that tackling wasn't good hey we talked about tackling better we got a rally to the football hey and you know what we got to play with effort of course we gotta play hard but now there are some coaches it'll be good you know I see this new group of guys Mike McDaniel you know uh yeah I I want to see him and I I'll see what happens there and if you do it on my terms yes but I don't think you're going to force these guys and say you have to talk at a certain time at six minutes left in the fourth quarter we're going to get you and you got to be good I I just don't know how that's going to play out give me the coach who is got a seat that's a little hotter than everybody else in your opinion well obviously Mike McCarthy um you know when when the owner comes out and says well I didn't give you an extension because we didn't play well in the playoffs last year that that's a pretty hot seat right there uh I think he's gonna be fine I think they're gonna have a pretty good team um but you know to me everybody's seat is hot in this NFL the way it is now it's just such an impatient time and everybody thinks that their team is right there and they should win uh hopefully we'll give these first year guys a chance to get their feet on the ground good to talk to you as always tone we'll talk to you during the season my best to the family all right thank you Dan always good to be with you Tony dunie Hall of Famer football night America analyst