TAMPA, Fla. — Has an NFL team ever honored a coach it fired?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did just that Monday night when it honored Tony Dungy at halftime, inducting him into their Ring of Honor.
Wonder who Dungy rooted for between the Buccaneers and Steelers? He played safety for the Steelers in 1977 and 1978 and returned to them as a defensive coach for seven seasons in the 1980s, first as secondary coach and later as defensive coordinator.
His tenure with the Buccaneers lasted from 1996 through 2001, when he was fired. Heading into that last season, though, he hired Mike Tomlin to coach his secondary, his first pro coaching job. New coach Jon Gruden kept Tomlin on his staff through 2005. Tomlin coached one season as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings before the Steelers hired him as their head coach in 2007.
Tomlin said he learned plenty in that one season with Dungy in Tampa Bay.
“I could talk,” Tomlin recalled of those days with Dungy. “I wouldn’t know when to shut up. Coach just provided a daily blueprint on how he approached it. He was himself every day. It was a steady focus and compass through unsteady waters that can be in NFL seasons. I felt that.
“Working for him is steady leadership. Guys knew where they stood with him. A clean communicator and I think those are some of the key ingredients that allowed him to be successful, successful in multiple places, successful for a period of time. He’s worthy of the honor that he’s gotten.”
Dungy went on to coach the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl victory in the 2006 season. The Colts installed him in their ring of honor in 2010 and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Burns in game
Much was expected of cornerback Artie Burns as he entered his third season as a No. 1 draft choice in 2016. Veteran cornerback Joe Haden even said in training camp Burns was performing as though he was ready to be a top-tier cornerback.
Three games into the 2018 season, Burns was demoted against Tampa Bay and replaced in the starting lineup by veteran Coty Sensabaugh. But the demotion lasted only two series because Burns returned in the first quarter and rotated every two series thereafter with Sensabaugh.
Burns even forced a fumble on a completion to receiver Chris Godwin that Mike Hilton recovered in the second quarter. The Steelers turned that takeaway into a touchdown on a 27-yard catch-and-run by Antonio Brown.
But he got beat on a 51-yard pass down the sideline to receiver Mike Evans to set up a Tampa Bay field goal before halftime.
The Steelers are not disappointed in Burns’ ability as much as they are his attention to detail and understanding assignments. This is not the first time this has happened to a top Steelers cornerback.
In 2006, coach Bill Cowher benched Ike Taylor for one game midway through the season, months after Taylor had signed a $22.5 million contract extension. Cowher did it to get Taylor’s attention and push him to play better.
Roughing record
The four roughing-the-passer penalties called against both teams in the first half tied for the most in an NFL game since 2001. It has happened three previous times. There were 21 such penalties called throughout the league in the first two weeks of the season.
Inactives
The inactives Monday night for each team:
Steelers — QB Mason Rudolph, WR Justin Hunter, S Marcus Allen, S Morgan Burnett, G David DeCastro, OT Marcus Gilbert, DE L.T. Walton.
Buccaneers — WR Justin Watson, CB Marcus Williams, RB Ronald Jones II, DT Vita Vea, OL Alex Cappa, OL Mike Liedtke, DT Beau Alllen.
Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com and Twitter @EdBouchette; Gerry Dulac: gdulac@post-gazette.com and Twitter @gerrydulac.
First Published: September 25, 2018, 2:58 a.m.