Takedown Report

Tony Dungy: An uncommon bond with Minnesota Gophers Wrestling

By Brian Jerzak
Since 1977, the Gopher Wrestling Club has been supporting the Minnesota Gophers’ wrestling program. The year before, the football program graduated, at the time, their career leader in pass attempts, completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes. Many years later, the Gophers’ wrestling program and its NFL Hall of Fame inductee alumni – former Pittsburg Steelers player and former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts – Tony Dungy will continue their long-time relationship with each other with Dungy as the featured speaker at the Minnesota Gophers’ wrestling gala next month. Dungy grew up in Big Ten country, cheering for the maize and blue of Michigan and the green and white of Michigan State.
“I grew up in Jackson, Michigan, and it is midway between the University of Michigan and Michigan State,” Dungy said. “My dad got his undergrad degree from Michigan, and my mom was a Spartan. They both did graduate work at Michigan State, so I grew up on the Michigan State campus. When I was in middle school and high school, my dad would take me to Michigan games. I felt like I was going to go to one of those places. I fell in love with Michigan State. In the middle of my senior year of high school, [Michigan State head football coach] Duffy Daugherty announced his retirement. His number one assistant, Cal Stoll, got the head coaching job at Minnesota. Coach Stoll talked to me about why he was at Minnesota, how wonderful it was, and how I could set my own legacy. I decided I wanted to get away from those campuses. I visited Minnesota, and it was amazing. I decided this was the place I had to be.” Early in his time at Minnesota, Dungy, who had never wrestled a day in his life, struck up a friendship with Gopher wrestler Pat Neu, starting a nearly fifty-year relationship for Dungy with the wrestling program. “At the University of Minnesota, all of the athletes were kind of together in study hall and in the same dorm, and I got to become friends with Pat,” Dungy said. “He was a dynamic wrestler and a good guy. We hung out together on campus and in study halls. I would see how hard the wrestlers worked. They were not only good guys, but they were also so disciplined. That is what caught me. … more at … https://theguillotine.com/2025/04/tony-dungy-an-uncommon-bond-with-minnesota-gophers-wrestling/?doing_wp_cron=1750739698.2963581085205078125000

July 24, 2025 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | sports, wrestling, writing | Leave a comment