Tweet
(June 18, 2003) -- It makes perfect sense that the Kansas City Chiefs have hitched their hopes to Dick Vermeil's history of transforming the NFL teams he has coached into playoff qualifiers by his third season.
After all, Vermeil has done it twice, with the 1978 Philadelphia Eagles and the 1999 St. Louis Rams. As he approaches season number three in Kansas City, who could blame Chiefs front-office types, coaches and players for the buzzing they've done this offseason about Vermeil working his third-year magic once again?
I certainly can't.
But it's important to understand that expecting the Chiefs to keep Vermeil's remarkable streak intact is based on sound, rational thought. What he achieved with the Eagles and Rams did not result from any mystical force or sheer luck. In each instance, he implemented a systematic, step-by-step program of instruction and development that, by its very design, should yield such success in three years.
"I'd like to think the good things we did (in the first two years) compound and all of a sudden, a lot of things swell," Vermeil says.
After all, Vermeil has done it twice, with the 1978 Philadelphia Eagles and the 1999 St. Louis Rams. As he approaches season number three in Kansas City, who could blame Chiefs front-office types, coaches and players for the buzzing they've done this offseason about Vermeil working his third-year magic once again?
I certainly can't.
But it's important to understand that expecting the Chiefs to keep Vermeil's remarkable streak intact is based on sound, rational thought. What he achieved with the Eagles and Rams did not result from any mystical force or sheer luck. In each instance, he implemented a systematic, step-by-step program of instruction and development that, by its very design, should yield such success in three years.
"I'd like to think the good things we did (in the first two years) compound and all of a sudden, a lot of things swell," Vermeil says.
