Dungy, Bayh and Obama

Evan Bayh is pitching Tony Dungy to Barack Obama as a czar to promote “responsible fatherhood” and Obama likes the idea, Bayh says.

Dungy, who is retiring as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, has made fatherhood a centerpiece of his off-field ministries, and Bayh has long advocated better fathering as a way to solve social ills. Obama said much the same during his campaign.

However, this could get complicated. Dungy builds his case for fatherhood on the framework of his faith. So, would Dungy be expected to separate his faith from his government job? If Dungy were offered a post under that condition, should he take it?

A related thought: Dungy kept a lot more than just footballs in the air during his seven years in Indianapolis. Had he led a corporation, some boards would have forced him to devote more time to his day job.

Dungy said from the outset that he came to Indianapolis with the understanding that his passions off the field would come first.

His record glitters compared to most coaches even in the NFL. Yet would Dungy have won more Super Bowls had he, too, slept on cots at the office and otherwise shut out everything non-football?

And had he gone the all-football route and won more championships, would the loss of his outside activities been worth the effort?