Dick Vermeil, who coached Eagles and Chiefs, says Super Bowl LIX will be one for ages

Los Angeles Times

27-01-2025

Dick Vermeil loves being Switzerland.
He's got good friends with the Philadelphia Eagles and good friends with the Kansas City Chiefs — he represented both franchises — but the Hall of Fame coach now revels that now he can 'embrace neutrality.'
The Chiefs and Eagles are headed to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, and, as was the case when the teams squared off on the NFL's biggest stage two years ago, he can be the innocent bystander.
'I have compassion for both teams because I know people in both organizations,' said Vermeil, 88, who coached the Eagles from 1976 though '82, and the Chiefs from 2001 through '05. He won a Super Bowl as coach of the St. Louis Rams.
'I know [Chiefs coach] Andy Reid better than I know [Eagles coach] Nick Sirianni. But you sit and watch the game and let the game determine itself. Because as you watch, you're not making a difference in anything you do.
'Very few fans can enjoy the game regardless of who wins. I can. I can be happy for either side — and very sad for the loser.'
The Chiefs put themselves in position for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat Sunday night by beating the visiting Buffalo Bills 32-29. Earlier in the day, the Eagles delighted their home crowd by walloping the Washington Commanders 55-23.
'I thought the Chiefs game would be a toss-up, and it was,' Vermeil said. 'I thought the Eagles would win, but I did not believe they would blow them out.'
Vermeil, who lives on a 100-acre ranch 45 minutes west of Philadelphia, watched the game from the calm of his daughter's home in Key West, Fla. He saw news accounts of the massive throng of Eagles fans filling every inch of Broad Street in Philadelphia and was happy to be where he was.
'I saw that and said to myself, 'I'm glad I'm not there right now,'' he said with a laugh. 'I can understand the city's emotion, but that many people on the street … had to be a million people down there, seemed like. I had four grandkids down there.'
Whereas Chiefs games almost have a college atmosphere, the Philadelphia experience can be a little grittier for fans.
'Both fan bases are very passionate,' Vermeil said. 'The Philadelphia fan is a little more intense, OK? But they both are so deeply involved with their teams, and of course the Eagles go way back to the start of the league.
'It's not unusual to be talking to someone who got the tickets from their grandfather who got the tickets from his grandfather. They go generations back. So the loyalty. And as you watch the TV camera pan the crowd you'll see 8-year-old kids jumping up and down as if they've been involved with the team for 50 years. It's in their blood.'
Vermeil was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Rams early in this career, then was head coach at UCLA for two seasons before taking over as head coach of the Eagles in 1976. Four years later, Philadelphia made it to Super Bowl XV before losing to the Oakland Raiders.
Late in his coaching career, Vermeil took over in Kansas City and improved from 6-10 in his first season to 13-3 in his third, when the Chiefs won the AFC West and hosted a playoff game, losing to the Indianapolis Colts.
He sees the Feb. 9 game between the Chiefs and Eagles potentially as a matchup for the ages.
'Any time you take a running back as skilled as [Saquon Barkley] is and combine him with the best offensive line in football, you're going to create big plays,' he said of the Eagles star.
'And I would never bet against Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.'
He's happy to simply sit back and watch.