Tony Dungy Credit: Jamie Lamor Thompson/Shutterstock
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy will be among the many keynote speakers at an upcoming Tampa stop for Life Surge, a Christian-based financial seminar that recently came under fire for its high-pressure sales tactics, often resulting in attendees occurring tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
According to a joint investigation published by Pulitzer-prize winning outlet “Pablo Torre Finds Out” and Mother Jones, Life Surge encourages attendees to purchase financial courses that cost upwards of $40,000, and if they can’t afford the classes, they’re guided to onsite third party lenders.
The investigation, which included interviews, documents, and consumer complaints obtained from the Federal Trade Commission, found that attendees were pressured to make life-altering financial decisions, like cashing in their 401Ks and taking on thousands in credit card debt to pay for day trading and real estate classes.
One guest told investigators she had to take out a home equity loan to pay off $20,000 on credit cards, after the interest rate ballooned to 29% once the initial promotion had expired. “We did take out a line of credit on our house, and we are having to use it right now to pay back the freaking credit card that we got with them,” said Cathy Luebke in the report.
Credit: Screengrab via Life Surge
Life Surge has denied these accusations.
Last weekend, former NFL quarterback and Heisman winner Tim Tebow announced he is “pausing” his relationship with the organization, after being the face of Life Surge for years.
“I think the allegations are extremely, extremely serious, and it’s something that we take very serious,” said Tebow in an interview with the Gainesville Sun. “And so, for us, we’re having our team do an investigation, but also pausing our relationship until we can learn more about the facts to be able to understand more.”
It’s estimated that Tebow’s fees for speaking at Life Surge can be upwards of $100,000 per appearance. However, it’s unclear how much Dungy will make at the upcoming event, which takes place at Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena on Dec. 5.
Besides Dungy, speakers include former Full House child actress and devote Christian Candace Cameron Bure, and Ed Mylett, a motivational speaker and executive at a multi-level marketing insurance company called World Financial Group. There’s also Marcus Lemonis, the host of CNBC’s “The Profit,” who just last February had to pay a $14.1 million settlement after 47 businesses on the show accused him of illegally defrauding them.
Dungy could not be reached for comment for this story, but we will update this piece if he gets back to us.
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This article appears in Sept. 24 – 30, 2026.
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