Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Vermeil's 1980s disciples

Today, the Inquirer's Marc Narducci writes: (Eagles) Cornerback Herman Edwards is the head coach of the New York Jets. Linebacker John Bunting is the head coach at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. Center Guy Morriss is the head coach at Baylor.
Defensive end Carl Hairston is the defensive-line coach with Vermeil at Kansas City. Running back Wilbert Montgomery is the running-backs coach for the St. Louis Rams.
Pete Perot, a guard, is an offensive-line coach at Louisiana Tech. And defensive end Dennis "Big Foot" Harrison served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for five seasons, which ended in 2001.
"Everyone likes to receive a little credit, but whoever was coaching these guys was destined to succeed," Kansas City Chiefs Coach Dick Vermeil said in a telephone interview last week. "That was sort of a blue-collar team, built initially without high draft choices and built through hard work and long, tough football practices, and I think people that endure that kind of a struggle end up being successful."

A blue-collar team in a blue-collar city...this is one scrappy town.