Dungy Goes From Super Bowl Sundays to Bedtime Stories

July 11, 2008 -- Some NFL coaches hit the golf course during the off-season. Others fish, or hunt. Joe Gibbs tends to his NASCAR team. Bill Parcells plays the ponies. Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy writes books.

Dungy became an unlikely New York Times Best Selling author with his memoir, "Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life" in 2007, and he's at it again this summer with "You Can Do It."

But while the first book was an inspirational biography aimed at adults and published in the wake of his Super Bowl XLI victory, "You Can Do It" is a children's book.

That's right. A man whose profession is all about leading men in an ultra-violent contact sport is entering an arena populated by the likes of Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl and E.B. White.

"I could never have pictured myself writing a book when I was 25 years old," Dungy told ABCNews.com. "My mom was an English teacher … but I wasn't that way growing up."

Growing up, it was all about football. Dungy starred at the University of Minnesota and spent three seasons in the NFL, playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. He was the head coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccanneers from 1996-2001, and has lead the Colts since 2002, becoming the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl in 2007, when his Colts beat the Chicago Bears.

His foray into the world of literature represents a different kind of pioneering.

"I thought 'Quiet Strength' would be pretty well received in the areas that I had coached … but I had no idea it would have the national reach that it had. That made me realize that we do have a platform, that God has blessed us with an audience, and I ought to take advantage of it."

"You Can Do It," which hit bookstores earlier the week, is a 26-page children's book about a boy who struggles to follow in the oversized athletic footsteps of his older brother. After much trepidation, his family rallies around him and helps the boy find another, more academic, dream to pursue.