Tony Dungy speaks to 2,500 people in attendance at the Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning. Photo via Mayor Dyer Twitter page

An audience of 2,500 people congregated at Fresno’s Convention Center Exhibit Hall for the Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast Tuesday morning.

Prayer was on the menu — in addition to eggs, potatoes and sausage — as followers of different faiths gathered to share the good word and hear a keynote address from Tony Dungy, Hall of Fame NFL coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts.

Dungy spoke about his NFL career and the importance of prayer in everyday life, and there was no shortage of prayer at the event that drew several local leaders including Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.

Fresno broadcaster and sports announcer Paul Loeffler served as the master of ceremonies. The worship team from The Well Community Church provided the music.

Local faith leaders and others shared their own prayers for first responders, educators, health providers, elected leaders, the downtrodden and more. Payers were offered by Catholic Diocese of Fresno Joseph V. Brennan; Quinne Dildine; Ashley Goldsmith with Every Neighborhood Partnership; Pastor Paul Binion with Westside Church of God; Pastor Will Stoll with Northwest Church of Fresno and more.

Dyer encouraged community members who worship at Fresno’s 400 churches and elsewhere to pray in their neighborhoods for reductions in violent crime and more peaceful communities.

“There are far too many people leaning on government and not enough people leaning on God,” Dyer said.

Keynote speaker Dungy, also an author and operator of fatherhood-centric nonprofit All Pro Dad, said it was his first trip to Fresno. But he was happy to be reunited with some of the Valley locals he has coached in his career, including Trent Dilfer and Lorenzo Neal.

Dungy, who spoke at People’s Church in Fresno on Monday night, said the last prayer breakfast he spoke at was 10 years ago in his home of Tampa, Florida. That same day he observed a fire in his neighborhood that proved to be related to a murder-suicide where a man, Darrin Campbell, killed his wife and two teenage children.

The incident made him reflect on the power of prayer and who or what it should be directed toward.

“I should have been praying for someone who was in my neighborhood that didn’t know the lord,” Dungy said.

Dungy said he turned to prayer at high and low points in his career, such as when he was not selected in the 1977 NFL draft out from University of Minnesota and when Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl in 2002.

A date and keynote speaker for the 2025 Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast was also announced Thursday. On Feb. 18, 2025, film and television producer Dallas Jenkins will appear in Fresno. Jenkins created “The Chosen,” a crowdfunded television series based on the life of Jesus. It’s available for streaming on platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and Netflix with 200 million unique viewers.