Philadelphia Eagles
Vermeil began his NFL head coaching career in 1976 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Due to past trades by the Eagles, Vermeil's teams did not have a 1st round draft pick until 1978.
By 1978, the Eagles made the playoffs for the first time in 18 seasons. That 1978 season featured breakthrough years by NFL stars Ron Jaworski, Wilbert Montgomery, and one of the greatest games in Eagles history — the seminal Miracle at the Meadowlands. The Eagles were losing to the New York Giants with seconds to play and when the Giants fumbled the ball, Herman Edwards recovered the ball and ran it back for a touchdown for a miraculous 19–17 victory.
In the 1980 NFC Championship Game, the Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys to put the Eagles into the first Super Bowl in franchise history. The Eagles lost the Super Bowl that season to Oakland, 27–10.
Vermeil was named the NFL's Coach of the Year in 1980, and led the Eagles into Super Bowl XV after defeating the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC championship. He retired for the first time after the 1982 season citing burnout.
Read more about this topic: Dick Vermeil
Famous quotes containing the word philadelphia:
“It used to be said that, socially speaking, Philadelphia asked who a person is, New York how much is he worth, and Boston what does he know. Nationally it has now become generally recognized that Boston Society has long cared even more than Philadelphia about the first point and has refined the asking of who a person is to the point of demanding to know who he was. Philadelphia asks about a man’s parents; Boston wants to know about his grandparents.”
—Cleveland Amory (b. 1917)