Dungy will weigh options

INDIANAPOLIS – Tony Dungy plans to return as Colts coach but left open the possibility of retirement following a season marked by the death of his 18-year-old son.

“I really don’t know how I’ll react the next few days,” he said Monday, a day after Indianapolis was eliminated from the playoffs. “I think I’ll be back. But it will really be the first time I’ve had to think about it.”

Dungy has been one of the NFL’s most successful coaches over the past decade. He’s reached the playoffs eight times, won three straight AFC South titles and taken teams to the AFC and NFC championship games (the latter when he coached Tampa Bay).

This year, he won his 100th career game less than two weeks after he turned 50.

But Dungy has always been a family man first. After the Colts’ season ended with Sunday’s 21-18 loss to Pittsburgh, Dungy said he intends to spend the next few days watching movies, spending time with his wife and children and reflecting on the death of his oldest son, James.

That has created a genuine conflict in Dungy’s future plans.

“I think this will be the first time I’ll really get to reflect on things and not be on autopilot,” Dungy said. “So we’ll have to see what the next few days bring.”

In October, Dungy signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the Colts through 2009. The question now is whether he will fulfill the deal.