Vermeil Retires On Top

Dick Vermeil is going out on top.

On Tuesday, two days after winning his first Super Bowl and after a talk with his wife, the 63-year-old coach of the St. Louis Rams announced his retirement. His eyes filled with tears and his voice choked with emotion, Vermeil said it was "an unbelievable feeling" to leave as a champion.

"I think the time is right," he said, the Super Bowl trophy sitting on a table to his right and a blue wheelbarrow symbolizing his work ethic to the left. "Very few people in this profession get this opportunity."

Vermeil made a quick decision because he didn't want to be involved with the free agency period that starts Feb. 11. He leaves with two years to go on a five-year, $9 million contract.

"I don't want to participate in that," Vermeil said. "I don't want to cut the squad. These are my guys."

Owner Georgia Frontiere tried to talk Vermeil out of it, team president John Shaw said he should at least wait to make sure and special teams coach Frank Gansz made an impassioned plea. Rams players just wanted the best for the coach who made it a point to get to know all of them.

"I feel indebted to coach Vermeil," said linebacker London Fletcher, who also urged Vermeil to stick around. "He gave me an opportunity that maybe nobody else would have, and I'm very grateful."

Linebacker Mike Jones, who made the game-saving tackle on Kevin Dyson, said looking back Vermeil dropped a few clues on the flight back from Atlanta but "I never put it together."

"It's a great legacy," Jones said, "going from worst to first."

But 49ers general manager Bill Walsh, a longtime friend of Vermeil's, agreed with the coach that the time was right.

This exit was a lot different than the first time he walked away from NFL coaching, complaining of burnout when he left the Philadelphia Eagles in 1982.

The decision elevates offensive coordinator Mike Martz to head coach. The Rams signed Martz, who directed the NFL's top-rateoffense and produced 526 points third highest in league history to a new two-year contract in January that assured he would inherit Vermeil's job.

Martz, who is scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday for a neck problem that bothered him all season, did not attend the news conference. A Rams spokesman said Martz would further postponed the surgery and hold a news conference Wednesday morning.

Vermeil coached two Super Bowl teams 19 years apart. He led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl in 1981, and that 27-10 loss fueled his return to the profession in 1997.

Vermeil led the Rams to a 13-3 record this year after winning only nine games his first two years combined. Following last year's 4-12 mark, there was talk that he could be fired.

The players weren't happy, either. Most of it was only grumbling because of extremely hard practices that often left the players exhausted before they stepped on the field on Sundays.

But four prominent players, including cornerback Todd Lyght, boycotted the final team meeting of the 1998 season. That sent a message to the coach, who described it at the time as a "shot in the back."

Vermeil, however, weathered the problems and led the team to an incredible turnaround.

In his first stint as an NFL coach with the Eagles from 1976-82, Vermeil called the plays and basically ran the whole show with an iron fist. When he returned, he became a benevolent overseer.

Vermeil said his wife of 44 years, Carol, first brought up the possibility of retirement after the Rams beat the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs. They talked about it again following the parade through downtown St. Louis Monday, a day after the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Super Bowl 34.

Finally, the couple discussed retirement again, briefly, Tuesday morning. But Vermeil stressed that it was strictly his decision to call it quits.

"I love these guys, too," Carol Vermeil said. "After my own boys, I call them my boys. But there's a time for everything."

Vermeil said he'll pursue a job in television again. During his 15-year hiatus from coaching, Vermeil was an analyst on ABC college football games. He also plans to spend time at his Philadelphia area ranch with his wife.

Two sons, a daughter and 11 grandchildren live nearby.

"We're world champions," Vermeil said. "How many coaches can go out having participated in a world championship contest?"

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