From ESPN
Tony Dungy has accepted the job as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, ESPN.com has learned, and his hiring is expected to be formally announced by the team later today.
League sources said Dungy, fired last week by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will receive a five-year contract. Financial details of the contract were not immediately available.
Dungy, 46, chose the Colts over the Carolina Panthers, who met with him Friday and Saturday and offered him the job at that time. Colts officials flew to Tampa on Sunday night to interview Dungy, the man owner Jim Irsay clearly coveted to succeed Jim Mora as coach.
"We are working toward an agreement in principle, but there are a few minor details that need to be worked out," Dungy's agent, Ray Anderson, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.
Colts spokesman Craig Kelley would not comment.
The decision between the Panthers and the Colts, sources said, was more difficult that some felt it would be. Although the Colts are a more talented team, and could contend immediately for a spot in the playoffs if Dungy can enact a quick-fix on the defensive side of the ball, he liked the city of Charlotte and the challenge the Panthers represent.
"There was a lot more deliberation here than people probably think," said one source. "The folks in Carolina, the ownership and management there, were impressive."
In Dungy's six seasons with the Buccaneers, he posted a 56-46 record. He is the only coach in the history of the franchise to have a winning record.
His decision likely means the Panthers will now turn to New York Giants defensive coordinator John Fox to fill their head coaching vacancy.
