Whatever one might say about Dick Vermeil’s postseason success in Kansas City, the reality is that previous Chiefs’ head coaches did not achieve what he accomplished in five years in terms of public support and general good feeling.
His success as head coach of the Chiefs was shaped as much by character and personality as it was by coaching genius, and he left town with people feeling positive about what he had done here.
He becomes the third head coach in Chiefs’ history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this month, joining Marv Levy and Hank Stram.
“Vermeil is a good man,” wrote the Wichita Eagle, at the time of his departure from Kansas City. “His players love him. Everyone in the Chiefs organization loves him. There are a lot of reasons for that, not the least of which being that he’ll treat the water boy, or whomever, the same as he’ll treat [General Manager Carl] Peterson or [Chiefs Founder] Lamar Hunt.”
He was a “classy man with a lot of love in his heart,” admitted the Topeka Capital Journal. “The moist eyes are a sign of passion and compassion for the sport,” wrote another reporter. “The career retrospectives are sure to include as much about the detail-oriented man who wears his emotions on his sleeve as the accomplishments on his NFL coaching resume,” offered one of the many out-of-town reporters who came to know the Chiefs through Vermeil.
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