Gold Jacket Spotlight: Dick Vermeil preached ‘nobody drowns in sweat’
The work ethic of Pro Football Hall of Famer DICK VERMEIL is well documented. In fact, writer Charles Barnard jotted, “Hard work is the cornerstone of Dick Vermeil’s life.”
Dick, who once observed “nobody drowns in sweat,” works his way into the Gold Jacket Spotlight this week.
Ascending from coaching at the high school, junior college, collegiate and professional levels, the native Californian, who easily could have been a car mechanic following a hobby and his father’s footsteps, honed his teams into successful units throughout the rise.
In 1974, Dick was named head coach at UCLA and in two seasons posted a 15-5-3 record that included a memorable 1976 Rose Bowl upset victory against top-ranked Ohio State. The winning record and Rose Bowl victory caught the attention of Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose.
“We wanted a man with superior intelligence, experience as a head coach with a winning record. A man with pro football experience and an offensive innovator and motivator,” Tose said. “We got the man we wanted.”
When Dick was questioned as to why he would leave a team that had just won the Rose Bowl to join a team in which four previous coaches had failed to produce a .500-plus record in the past 10 seasons, he asserted: “If it was going to be easy, I wouldn’t be here. The easy jobs are where the good teams are, and they’re filled.”
Eagles General Manager Jim Murray quipped, “Our fans are so low, you can get a standing ovation by winning the coin toss.”
Known as “The Little Dictator” for his highly structured and physical practice routines, Dick stated, “One day we’re going to kick the living hell out of somebody” after an early preseason loss in 1976.
Thus began Dick’s professional head-coaching career in which he would be noted for his ability to lead a trio of organizations into playoff performances. Included among that success were a pair of Super Bowl appearances.
After posting a 4-10 record in his first season in Philadelphia, Dick’s Eagles would improve to 5-9-0 in 1977 and 9-7-0, earning a wild card spot in the playoffs, in 1978. That playoff berth was the Eagles’ first postseason appearance since winning the NFL Championship Game in 1960.
In 1980, the Eagles won the NFC championship, earning the franchise their initial appearance in a Super Bowl. They lost 27-10 in Super Bowl XV in New Orleans against the Oakland Raiders.
After a strike-shortened season in 1982, Dick resigned from the Eagles, saying, “I’m my own worst enemy. I’m far too intense, far too emotional and I put too much trying to get things together.”
Dick spent the next 15 years as a sports announcer, and after unsuccessful negotiations to return to the Eagles, he became the head coach of the St. Louis Rams in 1997.
“I just couldn’t fill up my tank broadcasting. There was an emptiness there. I just could not do it,” Dick stated during a national conference call. “Sometimes in life the greatest risk is not taking one. I passed up some opportunities, and I started saying to myself that I may never do it and I may regret it the rest of my life.”
Following two years of losing records, St. Louis, featuring “The Greatest Show on Turf,” defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV 23-16, providing the Rams with their first Super Bowl title.
Rams quarterback KURT WARNER, who had been inserted as the starter after a preseason injury to Trent Green, said this about the head coach: “You realized we’ve come together as a family. He’s the father of that family. He cares about us just like he cares about his children. To us, it’s something that’s really special because we realize how important we are to him.”
Retiring briefly after that Super Bowl victory, Dick returned to the sidelines as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for five seasons (2001-05). Included among those seasons was a 13-3 AFC West Division title in 2003.
Dick’s cornerstone of life – hard work – as Barnard wrote, resulted in a Bronze Bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past summer.
Dick, who once observed “nobody drowns in sweat,” works his way into the Gold Jacket Spotlight this week.
Ascending from coaching at the high school, junior college, collegiate and professional levels, the native Californian, who easily could have been a car mechanic following a hobby and his father’s footsteps, honed his teams into successful units throughout the rise.
In 1974, Dick was named head coach at UCLA and in two seasons posted a 15-5-3 record that included a memorable 1976 Rose Bowl upset victory against top-ranked Ohio State. The winning record and Rose Bowl victory caught the attention of Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose.
“We wanted a man with superior intelligence, experience as a head coach with a winning record. A man with pro football experience and an offensive innovator and motivator,” Tose said. “We got the man we wanted.”
When Dick was questioned as to why he would leave a team that had just won the Rose Bowl to join a team in which four previous coaches had failed to produce a .500-plus record in the past 10 seasons, he asserted: “If it was going to be easy, I wouldn’t be here. The easy jobs are where the good teams are, and they’re filled.”
Eagles General Manager Jim Murray quipped, “Our fans are so low, you can get a standing ovation by winning the coin toss.”
Known as “The Little Dictator” for his highly structured and physical practice routines, Dick stated, “One day we’re going to kick the living hell out of somebody” after an early preseason loss in 1976.
Thus began Dick’s professional head-coaching career in which he would be noted for his ability to lead a trio of organizations into playoff performances. Included among that success were a pair of Super Bowl appearances.
After posting a 4-10 record in his first season in Philadelphia, Dick’s Eagles would improve to 5-9-0 in 1977 and 9-7-0, earning a wild card spot in the playoffs, in 1978. That playoff berth was the Eagles’ first postseason appearance since winning the NFL Championship Game in 1960.
In 1980, the Eagles won the NFC championship, earning the franchise their initial appearance in a Super Bowl. They lost 27-10 in Super Bowl XV in New Orleans against the Oakland Raiders.
After a strike-shortened season in 1982, Dick resigned from the Eagles, saying, “I’m my own worst enemy. I’m far too intense, far too emotional and I put too much trying to get things together.”
Dick spent the next 15 years as a sports announcer, and after unsuccessful negotiations to return to the Eagles, he became the head coach of the St. Louis Rams in 1997.
“I just couldn’t fill up my tank broadcasting. There was an emptiness there. I just could not do it,” Dick stated during a national conference call. “Sometimes in life the greatest risk is not taking one. I passed up some opportunities, and I started saying to myself that I may never do it and I may regret it the rest of my life.”
Following two years of losing records, St. Louis, featuring “The Greatest Show on Turf,” defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV 23-16, providing the Rams with their first Super Bowl title.
Rams quarterback KURT WARNER, who had been inserted as the starter after a preseason injury to Trent Green, said this about the head coach: “You realized we’ve come together as a family. He’s the father of that family. He cares about us just like he cares about his children. To us, it’s something that’s really special because we realize how important we are to him.”
Retiring briefly after that Super Bowl victory, Dick returned to the sidelines as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for five seasons (2001-05). Included among those seasons was a 13-3 AFC West Division title in 2003.
Dick’s cornerstone of life – hard work – as Barnard wrote, resulted in a Bronze Bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past summer.
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