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So, I’m simply kicking back and relaxing on the final day of a four-day New Year’s weekend watching “Coachspeak” and “NFL Total Access” on the NFL Network. It’s “Black Monday” in the NFL, the gloomy nickname for the day after the regular season and the traditional day for firing head coaches. Five NFL coaches lost their jobs today, but only one stepped down — Dick Vermeil
Coach Vermeil will always have a special place in my memories. When I was a kid, the only coach of the Philadelphia Eagles I ever knew was Dick Vermeil. I remember being a kid and “imitating” Eagles players in the back yard or the local playground. I remember how excited my Dad and his golf buddies were watching the Eagles go to the playoffs in the late 1970s and Super Bowl XV. I remember actually going to Veterans Stadium on January 3, 1981 and witnessing the Eagles beat the Vikings in a divisional playoff game. I remember the Super Bowl party my folks held, where we had 5 televisions in 5 different rooms (living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, and yes, the bathroom) so no one would miss a second of the game. I have all these memories thanks to Dick Vermeil’s work as head coach of the Eagles.
My favorite memory, though, has to be visiting the Eagles training camp at West Chester State College. I was lucky enough to live in the same town where the Eagles trained, and could ride my bike to the campus! I spent many hours with friends watching the team practice. Many times, after practice and before hitting the locker rooms, the team would shake hands and sign autographs. Coach Dick Vermeil and players like Wilbert Montgomery, Ron Jaworski, Harold Carmichael, and Bill Bergey would always stop for us kids.
After Vermeil retired from coaching in 1982, coaches like Marion Campbell, Buddy Ryan, Rich Kotite, Ray Rhodes, and Andy Reid would have success in Philly. But to me, Dick Vermeil was the coach of the Eagles. So, when Dick Vermeil returned to coaching in St. Louis, I followed the Rams right up to their win over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. Dick Vermeil made another return to coaching in 2001 when he was named head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and I would cheer on his team (unless that cheering conflicted with my cheering of the Seattle Seahawks).
I can’t help but feel a little somber watching the footage of Dick Vermeil retire from coaching again. To me, Coach Vermeil deserves all the respect he gets. He led two teams to the Super Bowl, and won one of them. In my opinion, he’s a better coach than Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, George Allen, Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, and dare I say Vince Lombardi? No one cares more for his players and his team then Vermeil. He formed relationships with players and coaching staff in the 70s that exist to this day. Dick Vermeil will be missed. He’s a great coach, and a great man. I’m glad I had the chance to shake his hand, eventhough I was only a kid and didn’t realize at the time how big of an honor it was.
