Chris Myers, whose weekday job consists of hosting a show for FOX Sports Radio and who works NFL games on Sundays for FOX, dropped a potential bombshell on Monday.
Per Myers, Tony Dungy is under consideration for a possible return to the team that gave Dungy his first crack at an NFL head-coaching gig.
“I did want to mention Tony Dungy’s name, and I don’t even know if Tony has been approached, has surfaced in Tampa as a possibility,” Myers said, per JoeBucsFan.com. “The team is winless. There is some concern about direction. Dungy might be a guy whether he is brought in as a consultant or an executive or to coach with Raheem Morris. It is something that is out there that is being talked about.”
The comments come on the same day that coach Raheem Morris admitted during a press conference that the coaches got “our faces ripped off” by an unnamed assailant. (Hannibal Lecter? Dwight Schrute?)
Making Myers’ remark even more credible is the fact that he handles play-by-play duties for the preseason television broadcasts of the Tampa games, and so if Myers were to drop a nugget like that, he would at least bounce it off someone he knows in the organization.
Dungy has said that he won’t be returning to coaching. But a high-level Bill Parcells-style function could allow him to stay in the game while at the same time having plenty of time to pursue his various charitable interests.
Stay tuned on this one. The Bucs need all the help they can get, Dungy would have plenty to offer, and the move would energize a fan base that seems to be close to cutting bait.
Beside, the fact that Dungy lives in Tampa would keep travel expenses low for a franchise that, over the past year or so, has been doing everything it can to cut costs.