The Dungy Coaching Tree of Woe

New Steeler head coach Mike Tomlin comes from the Tony Dungy coaching tree. You'd think right away that learning from the most-recent Super Bowl winning coach would be a good thing. That may turn out to be true, but in the first year? Let's see what Tony and the other Dungy disciples did in their first seasons.

Tony Dungy - 1996 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs finished strong in those (not so) classic old jerseys, going 5-2 before switching to the pewter uniforms and making the playoffs in Dungy's second season. But still, 6-10 is 6-10.
First-year record: 6-10

Herman Edwards - 2001 New York Jets
Herm took over from Bill Parcells and had a strong first season with most of Parcells' personnel left over, taking Gang Green to the playoffs.
First-year record: 10-6

Lovie Smith - 2004 Chicago Bears
Injuries took their toll on the Bears in Smith's first year, though the defense improved nearly 10 spots in league rankings.
First-year record: 5-11

Rod Marinelli - 2006 Detroit Lions
The last of the Dungy disciples to get a head job in the NFL before Tomlin debuted last year in Detroit. While 2006 was a struggle for the Lions, Jon Kitna apparently thinks 2007 will be better.
First-year record: 3-13

To sum it up, Tony Dungy and his disciples are a combined 24-40 in their debut seasons as head coaches, an average year of 6-10. Somehow it doesn't feel like Steeler Nation will be happy with that record this year.

P.S. - The other Dungy disciple who went to a high-profile coaching job was Mike Shula, his former offensive coordinator with Tampa Bay. Shula's record in his first year at Alabama? 4-9.