ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 football TAG: 9701220057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Dick Vermeil returned to coaching after a 14-year absence on Tuesday, burning to prove to the St.Louis Rams and the NFL that the game hasn't passed him by.
Vermeil, 60, was so fired up during a news conference to announce his five-year, $9 million deal as coach and president of football operations that he spoke for a half-hour before taking questions.
``Ladies and gentlemen, you can't imagine how exciting it is to be here today,'' said Vermeil. ``I have never been, in my life, more confident or better prepared.''
Vermeil made an immediate impression on two players who attended the news conference, defensive end Kevin Carter and tight end Aaron Laing. Laing said he was so inspired he wanted to play right now.
``He got me excited,'' Laing said. ``There's definitely an energy about him, no doubt about that. It's not the same old mundane speech.''
Players didn't seem too worried about his lengthy absence, either.
``George Foreman came back,'' was the reasoning of defensive tackle D'Marco Farr. ``You don't really lose the fire.''
The headline in Tuesday's editions of the St.Louis Post-Dispatch read, ``Dick Vermeil?''
Vermeil led the Philadelphia Eagles to their only Super Bowl berth in 1981. He resigned after the 1982 season complaining of burnout and has been working as a college football analyst for CBS-TV and ABC-TV.
``People are going to say Dick's a retread, a has-been, almost a never-was because I lost the Super Bowl, and possibly over the hill,'' Vermeil said. ``I've received a Ph.D. from the greatest graduate school in professional football.''
For a typical Saturday college game, Vermeil said he'd be on the scene by Thursday.
``Why? Because I wanted to see how the great coaches did it,'' he said. ``How do you get this done? How do you motivate your players? What a tremendous, tremendous advantage.''
During Vermeil's absence, the NFL has introduced the salary cap and free agency, and he said he'll definitely need help in that area. Other than that, Vermeil said the game is pretty much how he left it.
``The biggest change is the zone blitz principles on defense,'' he said. ``Offensively, I don't see them doing anything today that I haven't tried to do.''
Vermeil, who accepted the job Monday morning, has begun to assemble his staff. Jerry Rhome, fired last week by the Houston Oilers, will be offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The hiring of Vermeil means that Steve Ortmayer, who had been director of football operations, either will be demoted or fired. Vermeil only said some change was to be expected.
Vermeil came close to returning to the NFL in 1995 with the Eagles before negotiations broke down with team owner Jeff Lurie.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Dick Vermeil says being away from the NFL for 14by CNByears has made him a better coach. color.