Vermeil: Offensive coaches work better, but leaders work best

"I could do it for about a month," the former Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs coach said with a laugh.

Vermeil was on 94 WIP on Tuesday to talk about the Eagles' coaching search and the pressure facing both the newcomer in Philadelphia and the predecessor in Kansas City. He explained how, in his opinion, a the responsibilities of a head coach transcend their in-game specialty.

"I think it’s an advantage for an NFL coach to be an offensive coach, he’s gotta answer all the questions anyway and 90% of them are going to be about the offense."

"More often than not, the conversation starts about the QB or the offense. So why not have somebody who's the hood ornament of your organization have that as their strengths. I’m not saying it’s the only way or the right way, I just will always lean that way. But I’ll tell you this, if I could get the right leader and he was a defensive coach and I couldn’t get that in an offensive coach, I would go with the defensive coach."

Andy Reid's departure was bittersweet, but Vermeil noted how Kansas City will be good for him.

"Go take the job, it’s a good one, I told him," he said.

"In coaching, it’s all about the people you’re with and the organization you represent. You can’t find people better than the Hunt family. Yes, Lamar is gone, but I don’t think Clark has fallen too far from the tree…they’re just wonderful people to work for and represent. And the city itself is a wonderful place to work. They love their football every bit as much as the Eagle fans. They’re a little less intense, they’re a little more patient. They’re midwesterners in nature. And I’m not saying that’s better or worse."

Whoever comes into Philly, Vermeil explained, will have a hole to climb out of and not a lot of time to get a grip.

"The expectations are always higher in Philly than they ought to be. I don’t know if any other city starts talking about the playoffs in the preseason. They won so consistently for such a long time, they started to take it for granted." 

"Anybody coming in here, he’ll find the expectations very high early, and it will be easy to disappoint the fans if it doesn’t go that way--that’s just our city."

"Nobody can really appreciate winning the Super Bowl if they haven’t lost one. It takes the same thing to get there and lose that it does to get there and win. It’s tough."

"They’re gonna do the right thing, I’m sure."

With waves of paranoia started by the involvement of Eagles GM Howie Roseman--widely considered "not a football guy"--the Birds are entering an era in which trust and control in the coaching staff will be questioned and observed. Vermeil stressed the importance of working as a collective.

"If I’m a real experienced guy, I may want to have the power to surround myself with football people to make the football decisions.  But you know, you work together, it doesn’t matter who makes all the decisions.  You make them together.  I think a program can have a guy in a position of leadership and a coach may think, 'I’m not gonna hang my career on that guy.'  Another way to think is, 'I’ve got all the credentials; I’m gonna coach everybody, including the GM.'"

“It’s not about power, it’s about working together.”