PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The beloved coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 1970's and early 1980's is one step away from enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall announced Tuesday that Dick Vermeil has been named a finalist in the Coach category for their 2022 class.
Vermeil coached the Eagles from 1976-82. He turned around a franchise that didn't have a winning season since 1966 and had not made the playoffs since their 1960 NFL Championship campaign.
Through his leadership, the Eagles became winners in 1978 with a 9-7 campaign and made the playoffs that year. They earned their first playoff win by beating Chicago in the 1979 NFC Wild Card game.
Then came 1980, Vermeil's masterpiece season. His Eagles went 12-4, defeated Minnesota in the Divisional playoff, then defeated the archrival Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game to qualify for their first Super Bowl appearance.
Ironically, the team that beat them in that Super Bowl, the Oakland Raiders, bore the other Hall of Fame finalist who was named a finalist on Tuesday night, wide receiver Cliff Branch. He caught two touchdown passes in that Super Bowl to defeat Vermeil's Eagles.
One of Vermeil's own wide receivers, Harold Carmichael, was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier in August, and called for Vermeil to be enshrined. Defensive end Claude Humphrey, who played on that Super Bowl team as well, was enshrined in 2014.
Related
Vermeil also coached with the St. Louis Rams, where he won a Super Bowl in the 1999 season, and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Final selections for the class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are traditionally announced the day before the Super Bowl. In this case, that would be February 12, before Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, just miles away from where Vermeil coached at UCLA before coming to the Eagles.
Related
