But Dungy, 52, believes he and Smith can be pathfinders for black coaches of the future.
It is also no coincidence that Dungy had the maturity and judgment not to squander the opportunity.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
And both guys are highly respected - Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith - well respected, well liked.
He can be loyal, sticking with Tampa head coach Tony Dungy for six years before sacking him.
BBC: SPORT | Football | My Club | Man Utd | In search of the Glazers
Dungy also hired Lovie Smith over a decade ago, who Dungy coached against in the 2007 Super Bowl.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy was a free agent selection of that same owner during the whites-only coaching phase of the sport.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
And Dungy also hired Jim Caldwell, a coach groomed by Dungy as his replacement with the Indianapolis Colts.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
Unlike Dungy and Edwards, Jim Caldwell is still coaching, albeit as an assistant.
Caldwell is no stranger to the Super Bowl, having led the Colts there three years ago after replacing the retired Dungy.
As well as Dungy, Smith and Edwards, Marvin Lewis is currently in charge at Cincinnati and Romeo Crennel calls the shots at Cleveland.
There is fairly sizeable pool of proven NFL coaches available but Harbaugh generates more excitement than anyone except Gruden, Cowher or Tony Dungy.
However, Vick had set criteria, along with his agent Joel Segal and advisor Tony Dungy, to include a winning team and secure situation at starting quarterback.
So in the last four Super Bowls, half of the coaches have been African Americans, all of which are either Tony Dungy himself or his coaching progeny.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
The move paid off, with Dungy laying the foundations for a side who, under the new regime of Jon Gruden, triumphed by winning a maiden Superbowl title in 2002.
Roberts received his share of thank-you-for-your-interest form letters, but not from Herm Edwards, coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, who'd learned from Tony Dungy to look for something unusual in aspiring coaches.
"In terms of catching the football, I haven't seen anybody in my time better than Cris Carter, " former Vikings assistant and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy said, according to the Vikings' official website.
"I know the concept is good and something we need to do, " said Tony Dungy, who was with the Indianapolis Colts during the 2006 season when he became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl.
He and Dungy noted that the last black head coach hiring other than coaches promoted from within, like Leslie Frazier, Raheem Morris, Mike Singletary, Hue Jackson and Crennel was Mike Tomlin by Pittsburgh, in 2007.
And thanks to the efforts of Dan Rooney, an older white owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers with a good heart, the Rooney Rule that he authored while NFL chair of diversity, and its progeny in the name of Tony Dungy, the ideal has had application in professional football.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
And I fully suspect that the Rooneys had already posted Dungy as Exhibit A to convince the NFL and fellow whites-only owners that the good ole boy principle had to make room for the ideal: a decision based on the content of character and ability over the privileges of the past.
FORBES: What's Silently Super About This Bowl? A Tribute To The Rooneys And Tony Dungy
In a January 2007 column, I wrote about how Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts who led his team to victory in the Super Bowl last year, pushes his players hard but doesn't curse at them, chew them out, or speak to them sarcastically -- unusual behavior in the National Football League's scream-and-holler culture.
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