Dick Vermeil Disagrees that Matt Patricia Should be Fired
Former Eagles and Rams head coach Dick Vermeil can relate to the plight of heavily scrutinized Lions coach Matt Patricia.
While coaching the Eagles and Rams, Vermeil's teams struggled in consecutive seasons, yet he was retained and went on to have success with both organizations.
The Eagles made a Super Bowl appearance during the 1980 season. He went on to coach the Rams and won his only Lombardi trophy after a stellar 1999 campaign.
Vermeil spoke to Dave Birkett of the Free Press earlier this week and expressed that fans and media cannot dictate the moves an NFL organization should make.
"Vermeil, who does not know Patricia, said he’s attended one NFL game in person this year: The Lions’ Week 3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was impressed with what he saw.
“To start all over again, especially after losing your quarterback, my God,” Vermeil said. “You got to be careful. I say this, you can’t allow the fans and the media to make business, quality coaching decisions. And I really believe sometimes there are cities and organizations that are influenced by the radio talk shows and what the media says. Boy, it can kill you.”
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“I’ve always felt this,” Vermeil said. “The deeper the philosophy, the better the coach, the more difficult the first year can be. Because you change everything. You change organization, you change schemes, you change how people play their individual positions, and many times your first year you make them worse before you make them better. In fact, I think sometimes if you’re really coaching, you make them worse before you make them better that first year.”
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