Tony Dungy had a calm, almost gentle demeanor that runs counter to the image of football coaches as gruff taskmasters.

But Mike Tomlin said the different approach Dungy, who retired Monday as coach of the Indianapolis Colts, took to coaching shouldn’t overshadow his success.

“A lot of times people appreciate what he is as a person, and I’m among them,” said Tomlin, who is in his second season as Steelers coach. “But at times I think when we appreciate him as a person, we diminish somehow what he’s done as a coach and what he’s done for this game.

“Often times he’s expressionless in the midst of battle, but those that work with him understand what a great motivator he is and how he inspires men in preparation and in play.”

Dungy had the highest winning percentage (.668) among active coaches who have been on the sidelines for a minimum of 100 games before stepping down.

Dungy gave Tomlin his first NFL coaching job, but that is far from his only link to the Steelers.

Dungy played defensive back on the Steelers’ 1978 Super Bowl-winning team, and he got his coaching start in Pittsburgh when he joined Chuck Noll’s staff in 1981. Dungy, the Steelers’ defensive coordinator from 1984-88, served as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Colts. He is the only head coach since the NFL merger in 1970 to take a team to the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons.

Dungy, who retired to spend more time with his family and work in his ministry, hired Tomlin to coach the Buccaneers’ defensive backs in 2001.

“I don’t have enough time to talk about the impact Coach Dungy had on my professional life and my personal life, and I’m sure there’s a bunch of people that feels the same way that I do,” Tomlin said. “But as far as what he’s done for the game from a coaching standpoint, giving men an opportunity and training them and giving them the tools to go out and be at their best, he’s a special, special person.”

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