That pain came from the death of his 18-year-old son, James. On December 22, 2005, James Dungy passed away, an event that profoundly affected Tony and his family. In recent years, the former NFL coach has spoken candidly about how he confronted and endured that moment.
“It was a tough one. It really was. It’s something you never expect. You can’t get prepared for it. There’s no blueprint for it,” Dungy explained on The Sage Steele Show. “You lose a son who was 18 at the time. Gosh, it was painful. It was hurtful. But we believe the Bible. We believe God’s word.”
Dungy recalled wrestling with Romans 8:28, a verse about God working all things together for good for those who love Him. He and his wife, Lauren, could not envision any good arising from such tragedy. Yet they found the strength to endure and carry on. The pain, however, never fully disappeared, he emphasized.
“I probably talked to 200 dads who have lost kids and been able to tell them that you can make it through and you can fight through,” the 71-year-old coach said. “That’s how we had to look at it. Lord, I’ll never know why and never totally understand, but I do know that if I have faith in you that something good can come out of it.”
Reports at the time indicated that James was found unresponsive by his girlfriend around 1:30 a.m. in his apartment in Lutz, Florida, a suburb north of Tampa. A Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy performed CPR, and paramedics rushed him to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner later confirmed that James Dungy’s death was by suicide. Toxicology reports showed no drugs or alcohol, only trace amounts of caffeine and the emergency medications used during resuscitation attempts.
Dungy has spoken extensively and written about how his Christian faith sustained his family through this unimaginable grief. He delivered the eulogy at his son’s memorial service, focusing on hope, love, and faith rather than anger.
Beyond James, Tony and Lauren Dungy are parents to ten children, two of whom are biological and eight adopted.
Despite the tragedy, Dungy returned to coaching relatively quickly. A few days after his son’s funeral in Tampa, he flew back to Indianapolis to join his team and led the practice on December 29. He continued to coach through three more full seasons before retiring from the NFL in January 2009, at the age of 53, to spend more time with family and to devote himself to faith-based community and ministry work.
