Follow the Leaders

ST. LOUIS —  Things you thought you would never hear or read:

* Owner Georgia Frontiere and President John Shaw “vindicated” by the NFL’s awarding a franchise to Houston, instead of Los Angeles, according to one local media opinion maker. (Don’t knock that cup of coffee over.)

* The city’s poster boy of success is nothing less than a proud alum of the Arena Football League, Kurt Warner. What’s next? Will next year’s NHL scoring leader come from the wild world of roller hockey?

* One team still standing undefeated, as a community rubs its eyes in disbelief. The St. Louis Rams are 6-0, the only unbeaten team in the NFL. Already, the Rams have surpassed their victory totals of each of the last two seasons, 4-12 and 5-11.

Across the street from the massive Trans World Dome, folks in the Budweiser tent--what else would it be here?--are giddy as they listen to a jazz band playing “Low Rider” and rehash the 34-3 thrashing of the inept Cleveland Browns.

There’s little to feel guilty about on this Sunday. This is one of the few towns where you can walk down the street carrying a beer and not get arrested. Here, you can order a steak without getting a dirty look, and, above all, you can hear fans mention “Super Bowl” and “the Rams” in the same sentence--seriously.

Reality is in a state of suspension in St. Louis.

And if there is the need for further evidence, let’s move on to the Ram coach who happens to be celebrating his 63rd birthday today. Dick Vermeil, the man two-plus seasons removed from a 14-year coaching sabbatical, already has received six birthday presents . . . as in six wins.

The sad symbol of coaching burnout in the early ‘80s has become the symbol of success at the end of the ‘90s.

To realize how far the Rams and Vermeil have come since he arrived in St. Louis, he caused something of a mini-furor this week when he told a few national reporters Monday that he planned to coach only two more years, until he was 65, fulfilling his five-year contract.

But could he walk away if the Rams were a budding dynasty?

Vermeil looked emphatic. The four reporters at the Rams’ practice facility that day were convinced he would not coach beyond the 2001 season.

“If the program is running real good, I’ll feel I’ve accomplished something,” he said. “I made a contribution to Georgia, who gave me the opportunity. That’s a long ways away from right now. I’ve seen playoff coaches get fired the next year.”

By the end of the week, he was saying that the retirement statement was “blown out of proportion.”

Had Vermeil made any such statement regarding his retirement last season, it would not have caused the same sort of alarm. Then, few thought he would make it to the end of his contract, possibly not even to the end of this season.

The feeling was that Vermeil’s comeback would end in tears. And there were plenty of tears the first two seasons from the emotional coach. Don’t ever let him share a podium with Ben Crenshaw.

Three headlines, all from 1998, reflected his tenuous job status:

“Vermeil NFL Return Not Working Out.”

“Some Things Must Change or Vermeil Will Be Forced to Go”

“Ram-Tough Spot: Vermeil Contends His Way Will Work Out.”

Remarkably, things did change. And so did he.

Help arrived in the form of a new offensive coordinator, highly regarded Mike Martz, from the Washington Redskins. There was a massive infusion of new talent, as well as a weeding-out process of malcontents.

“I have to rely on my experience and my experience goes back to the ‘80s,” Vermeil said. “So I rely on it all the time. I haven’t really approached this team any differently. That’s why a lot of them were mad at me, the first year or two, because I used to work them. I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to draft enough players, buy enough players to keep my job. You can’t do it fast enough.

“The NFL ownership, management today, they want instant gratification. I don’t blame them. They have a lot of money invested.”

There were other adjustments. He eased the workload in training camp, so the team didn’t hit the regular season dead on its feet. Defensive coordinator Peter Giunta noted that Vermeil unexpectedly broke camp a day early.

“That meant the world to the players and to the coaches too,” Giunta said.

To keep his job and forestall mutinous rumblings, Vermeil had to delegate and back off. He also had to reinvent himself.

“That’s something he had to do,” wide receiver Isaac Bruce said. “That’s what happened.”

Said cornerback Todd Lyght, “If anything, he’s a little more lenient to players suggesting things. When you’re a new coach, you have to be strict and be on top of everything. Sometimes you stress the wrong things, but I think he’s [more] relaxed.”

Tight end Roland Williams noticed a marked difference from his rookie year, last season, saying, “Any time a guy who has been coaching so long, supposed to be set in his ways, comes back and reevaluates himself and changes--sometimes you say an old dog has no new tricks, that’s not true. Coach Vermeil came back and he changed.”

Personal evolution was a necessary element if he was to resurrect a team that had lived through seven consecutive losing seasons when he landed in St. Louis in 1997.

But the traumas of the last two seasons did not send him back to his old Philadelphia Eagle ways--sleeping overnight on a cot in his office and establishing legendary working habits.

“Not as tough as everybody says. It really wasn’t,” he said. “Losing bothers me. Second-guessing bothers me. The closer to home the second-guessing is, the more it bothers me. . . . Having spent 14 years in the media business [on TV], I learned how to handle that better than I would have when I was younger.”

Vermeil laughed when asked if his family was behind his return to coaching. Apparently, his vote was the only yes one. His wife of 43 years, Carol, was “not excited,” he said, and his sons were particularly against the move out of the broadcast booth back to the field.

Still, he could not shake the hollow feeling of being an observer, an outsider.

“I missed the leadership, the responsibility of feeling it’s important,” Vermeil said. “In the booth sometimes, I didn’t know what I had accomplished. There wasn’t the sense of accomplishing anything. It’s fun to be in a position where you can make a difference.

“I was 60 years old when [the Rams] asked me about this--all but one year since I left I had people ask me, and I stayed away from it. I felt if I didn’t do it now, I’d never get the chance.

“I didn’t want to be 65 and look back and say, ‘I wish I would have.’ ”

Carol Vermeil has come around. His 11 grandchildren are thrilled with Grandpa’s new job.

“He has made adjustments, as we all do,” she said. “You learn from your mistakes. He’s not trying to do it all. He’s working hard, but he’s working smarter.”

One of his former Eagle players, Wilbert Montgomery, who coaches the running backs, has detected no signs of burnout this time around.

“He’s a wiser guy,” Montgomery said.

Vermeil still feels and cares. After all, this is the coach who sent flowers to a reporter who covers the team after she had a baby.

“I’m still emotional, but not as emotional,” he said. “I’m not as intense. I think I have a better understanding of the individual person today than I used to. I have a little more compassion because I can control my intensity a little better.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Vermeil vs. Fisher

Dick Vermeil, a former coach at UCLA, and Jeff Fisher, a former cornerback for USC, meet as NFL coaches Sunday:

*

DICK VERMEIL

* AGE: Turns 63 today.

* COACHING EXPERIENCE: * 1997-present--head coach/president of football operations, St. Louis Rams; * 1976-82--head coach, Philadelphia Eagles; * 1974-75--head coach, UCLA; * 1971-73--special teams/quarterback coach, Los Angeles Rams; * 1969--special teams coach, Los Angeles Rams.

* CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: * 1975--won Pacific 8 championship, defeated top-ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl; * 1978--led Eagles to first playoffs since 1960, NFC coach of the year; * 1979--led Eagles to tie for first in NFC East, NFL coach of the year, NFC coach of the year; * 1980--led Eagles to Super Bowl.

* CAREER COACHING RECORD (INCLUDES PLAYOFFS): * UCLA--15-5-3 (.717); * Philadelphia: 57-51-0 (.528); * St. Louis: 15-23 (.394)

JEFF FISHER

* AGE: 41.

* COACHING EXPERIENCE: * 1994-present--head coach, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans; * 1994--defensive coordinator, Houston; * 1992-93--defensive backs coach, San Francisco 49ers; * 1991--defensive coordinator, Los Angeles Rams; * 1988-90--defensive coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles; * 1986-88--defensive backs coach, Philadelphia.

* CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: * 1988--became NFL’s youngest defensive coordinator; * 1989--Philadelphia defense led the NFL in interceptions and sacks; * 1990--Philadelphia defense led the NFL in rushing yards allowed.

* CAREER COACHING RECORD: Houston/Tennessee: 37-39 (.486)

RAMS SINCE MOVING TO ST. LOUIS

Through 6 Games (Finish)

1995: 5-1 (7-9)

1996: 1-5 (6-10)

1997: 2-4 (5-11)

1998: 2-4 (4-12)

1999: 6-0