I'd hate to see him leave because he's one of the most honest, decent people I've ever met in sports. He's also a tremendous motivator, mentor and friend to his players. He's a proven winner. There's a spot waiting in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And yet, if Dungy decides to retire, it might give the Colts the jolt they need to quit being postseason busts.

Then again, it might not.

See, that's the tricky part about calling for coaching changes and other reactionary suggestions of Colts fans depressed from the 23-17 overtime loss to the San Diego Chargers in the wild-card playoff round Saturday.

"Change isn't always a good thing," Colts linebacker Gary Brackett said.

Complete change isn't necessary. The Colts had a great regular-season run, despite rarely being fully healthy. But subtle change is needed. With the notable exception of 2006, the Colts spend too much time as a regular-season giant and a playoff gnat.

Dungy has earned the right to stay if he wants. He'll need to rebuild a running game and teach his defense how to tackle short guys, but he's earned the right to stay or go on his own terms.

It seems short-sighted to complain about the Colts' perennial 12-win seasons. But when they are followed by playoff disappointment, it's more painful for fans on many levels than a steady diet of mediocrity.

"It's funny, but no matter when you lose in the playoffs you always feel terrible," Dungy said. "You feel worse than teams that are 4-12 and won their last game. We have to use that feeling to build on next year, get ourselves better and not make wholesale changes."

With the Colts, it's forever a tease. Every year, fans are thrilled by regular-season excellence, bolstered by dreams of glory and floored when it ends abruptly.

No one's giving back the Super Bowl trophy from two years ago, but it seems awful solitary in the midst of an unprecedented six straight 12-win seasons.

If we're going to praise Dungy for his unmatched consistent ability to put teams in the playoffs, we have to assess some blame for his too-frequent knack for leading his team out of the playoffs.

Dungy made an NFL-record 10th straight playoff appearance this year. But his exit with a fourth one-and-done postseason in seven years left him with a 9-10 playoff record. That's a glaring deficiency in the Dungy resume.

There are some mitigating circumstances, as there always are. There was not a lot he could do to keep Chargers punter Mike Scifres from having the day of his life. There was not much Dungy could do about losing a coin flip before overtime.

But what of some of the other glaring mistakes in the loss to the Chargers?

Dungy lost an early long-shot challenge and passed on a better possibility. He went for a first down at midfield in the first half when a punt (and a possible deep pin) was the logical call. His offense kept trying to run when it so obviously couldn't.

The Colts used an empty backfield with a chance to run out the clock and win in regulation. On third-and-2 at their own 9, the Colts practically invited the Chargers to bring the heat on a virtually unprotected Peyton Manning. I don't pretend to have the Football mind of Dungy, offensive coordinator Tom Moore or Manning, but what was up with that?

I can't blame Dungy for the Colts' inability to tackle San Diego running back Darren Sproles, who is apparently Maurice Jones-Drew's evil playoff twin. Sproles burned the Colts for 328 all-purpose yards.

I can't blame Dungy for Joseph Addai forgetting how to run the ball. But I will blame Dungy for not using the more powerful Dominic Rhodes more often. Rhodes was simply the better runner all season. He should have passed Addai on the depth chart.

Dungy's playoff coaching was not up to his regular-season standards. The Colts' defense made enough plays to win the game, from Tim Jennings forcing Sproles into a fumble into the end zone to Bethea picking off a pass in the end zone to Robert Mathis delivering a big sack on what should have been San Diego's last possession. The Colts offense, even with MVP Manning, couldn't capitalize at key times.

I wrote a couple weeks ago that this season was Dungy's best coaching performance. And it was, right up until Saturday night.

Then, it turned into an all-too-familiar postseason rehash of missed opportunities.

Maybe that's the best argument for Dungy to return: more unfinished business.

This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. E-mail Reggie Hayes at rhayes@news-sentinel.com

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