LET THE ANNUAL DUNGY SPECULATION COMMENCE

In this age of high technology, we keep our list of story ideas and other things to do by hand, on a legal pad. On that list for the past few days has been the word “Dungy,” a reminder to yours truly that, because Colts coach Tony Dungy very well could be retiring after the team’s 2008 season ends, it would be wise to get in front of the story and post something sooner rather than later. It’s officially later. ESPN’s Ed “I’m In Your Head” Werder, who apparently finds the Colts beat less cluttered with hecklers, has beaten me to the punch. Per Werder, Dungy will spend the first week of the offseason deciding whether to retire, or to return for another year. If he retires, he doesn’t anticipate ever returning. And, if he goes, assistant head coach Jim Caldwell already has a deal in place to assume Dungy’s position. Dungy has followed the same approach for each of the past four years. Amazingly, however, the media has not hounded him in the same manner that it badgered former Steelers coach Bill Cowher during his single trip on the “one year at a time” train. The team’s early struggles in 2008 were attributed in some circles to Dungy’s commute between Tampa and Indianapolis. But the media never posed hard questions to Dungy as to whether his special arrangement was compromising the team’s performance. We’ve got nothing against Dungy. But we don’t understand why his reputation as a Christian man who never yells or curses insulates him from the interrogation and the finger-pointing directed at nearly ever other coach whenever his team encounters difficulty. Maybe the media fears they’ll be damned to an eternity of torment and ragged clothing if they offend St. Tony. Or maybe they simply can’t muster the same zeal to push him into a corner because he genuinely is a nice guy. Regardless of whether Dungy specifically engineered it or whether it just happened, it’s a great arrangement -- and the fact that Dungy doesn’t have to deal with this major drawback to the job should be a major factor in persuading him to continue.