Dick Vermeil - Post-coaching Career/legacy

Post-coaching Career/legacy

Vermeil is remembered for his frequent emotional breakdowns during press conferences, including crying when getting emotional. This display of emotion has helped make him a popular coach among fans. Vermeil lives in the historic Country Club Plaza district of Kansas City. When not in Kansas City, the entire Vermeil family enjoys spending time and working on “The Ranch,” a 114-acre (0.46 km2) homestead located outside Philadelphia in rural Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is also a huge supporter of the Chester County Council Boy Scouts of America and is a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award, which was coincidentally awarded at the same time he was named head coach of the Chiefs in 2001. His annual golf invitational has brought in over $1 million to the Council's operational fund.

True to his Napa Valley roots, Vermeil partnered with OnTheEdge Winery and produced his own self-proclaimed “Garage Cabernet” wine, named in honor of his father, Jean Louis Vermeil. After football, wine is Vermeil's biggest passion. Vermeil was actually once reprimanded by the NFL when during a game he promised kicker (and fellow wine connoisseur) Morten Andersen a bottle of Bryant Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon if he could kick the game-winning field goal versus Oakland. Andersen made the kick, but upon hearing about the offer, the NFL reminded Vermeil and the Chiefs that the $500 bottle of wine was considered a performance-based incentive bonus not written into Andersen's contract, and the gift was disallowed. Villa di Roma, an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, named one of its signature dishes “Steak Vermeil” in Vermeil’s honor.

Vermeil and former Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs are close friends. It was under his recommendation that Gibbs hired his former offensive coordinator, Al Saunders as a top assistant coach.

Vermeil was portrayed in the 2006 film Invincible by Greg Kinnear. The film showed Vermeil when he was head coach of Philadelphia and gave Vince Papale an opportunity to play for the Eagles.

During his first retirement, Vermeil worked as a game analyst for ABC Sports college football and NFL playoff broadcasts, most of the time paired with Brent Musburger. Currently, Vermeil works as a game analyst on broadcasts of college football and NFL games on NFL Network, with recent work during the 2006 Insight Bowl.

A Coors Light commercial featuring manipulated archival footage of Vermeil at a press conference debuted in 2006.

On November 2, 2008, Vermeil was honored by the St. Louis Rams organization with the placing of his name on the "Ring of Honor" around the inside of the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

Vermeil had a short cameo in the 2011 film The Greening of Whitney Brown, set in Chester County, in which he plays a football coach for the local middle school.

The 2001 book autobiography Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story (ISBN 9781582612706) includes a quote in a forward from Vermeil: "He could very well be the Will Rogers of the coaching profession." In 2011 former Penn State defensive coach Sandusky was arrested on 40 counts of child sexual abuse. A 2011 account about the book said "Sandusky paints a picture of himself as someone who would consistently take risks in pursuit of what he often refers to as 'mischief'" and there are many other citations and quotes which look "different in light of the horrendous allegations". After the indictment and the firing of Joe Paterno (Sandusky's long-time immediate boss) and PSU president Graham B. Spanier, it was reported that Vermeil on November 8, 2011, "told Action News, 'I don’t think there’s anything that could discolor the quality of Joe Paterno’s legacy.'" Vermeil also served on the Honorary Board of Sandusky's Second Mile children's foundation, along with Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, Matt Millen from ESPN, actor Mark Wahlberg and football player Franco Harris, among others. It was reported on November 11, 2011, that Vermeil hadn't "spoken to since the scandal broke. 'It's a blindside,' Vermeil said. 'That's all I can say.' 'If it's true, he's a sick man. He had an illness none of us knew about. That's all.'"

Vermeil and his wife, Carol have three children and 11 grandchildren, their son Rick and his wife Colleen are parents of grandchildren Kelly, Rick, Billy and Megan. Their son Dave and his wife Janet are parents of grandchildren Jack, Amy and Andy. Their daughter Nancy and her husband Steve Barnett are parents of grandchildren James, Tommy, Stevie and Christopher.