NFL coaching great Dick Vermeil was the featured speaker Monday at the Touchdown Club of Atlanta/National Football Foundation event. Vermeil won major coach of the year awards four times during his 15 years of coaching.
Vermeil coached the Eagles from 1976-80 and, after taking a long break from his career, came back to lead the Rams (1997-99) and Chiefs (2001-05). Under Vermeil, the Eagles won the 1980 NFC championship and the Rams won the Super Bowl during the 1999 season.
Before addressing the TCA/NFF gathering in Buckhead, Vermeil sat down for an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (edited for clarity and space).
Q: The NFL has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson assault allegations. Do you think that’s fair?
A: First off, what (Rice and Peterson) did, or anybody does, that's wrong. But I don't think it's unique to the National Football League. … But I think the league should be held responsible for the conduct of our players. We should all have standards that should be met. I think the good thing that's come out of it is the increased awareness of this problem. It's not unique to the National Football League and it makes all people in leadership positions think about it and have discipline standards if it happens in their organization.
Q: Concussions are a big focus for the league now, not so much in your coaching days. Do you think that’s a good thing?
A: Oh, yeah, I think any time we can be more aware of a negative in whatever we doing, it's a positive. When I was coaching, I never read a research study done on concussions or the effects of football concussions. I never did. This has all just come out in the last seven or last eight years. It's for the good. I think the emphasis on contact-making and the way to make contact properly in prevention is all good for the game. Can't hurt, might help.
Q: Have you had a chance to watch the Falcons, who have looked good on offense but bad on defense?
A: There are very few teams playing very good defense anymore. Defenses look better when they play a lousy offensive team. I'm not being facetious. That's what's happening because they make the game so easy to move the ball now in terms of you can't touch the receivers. And they are calling it. They've had the rule but now they are calling it. We've improved offenses by the rules and we've improved offenses by the skilled receiver positions and the quarterbacks who come out of college having thrown the ball so much more. To me, the wide receiver position has more dramatically improved than any other position on the field. There's more guys making Hall of Fame catches every week.
Q: You had some great offenses with the Rams and Chiefs.
A: Not the quality the Falcons have here, especially at the Chiefs. We had two Hall of Famers at the Rams, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. We didn't have that with the Chiefs. We had Eddie Kennison, who did a good job and was a good player. These guys like they have here in Atlanta, they are Hall of Fame players.
Q: Tony Gonzalez, your tight end with the Chiefs, retired after last season with the Falcons. Were you surprised he played so long?
A: He made us look pretty smart offensively in Kansas City. He could still play if he wanted to. There's nothing wrong with him physically. He's always taken care of himself to the point of being much younger than he is, really.
Q: What are some of the innovations you see in the game now?
A: More use of formation variation. More passes being thrown because of the rules. But what you see is more wide receiver against defenders, wide receiver making the catch. They just throw it up and give that wide receiver the responsibility to make the catch. We never used to do that. We were afraid of that. We were afraid it might get picked off. Everybody has receivers who can do that. Even some of the college kids are doing that now.
