Vermeil Considers an Offer to Return to Coaching With Falcons

Former UCLA and Philadelphia Eagle Coach Dick Vermeil said Wednesday that he is considering returning to pro football after discussing the vacant Atlanta Falcons’ head coaching job with Marion Campbell, a former Vermeil assistant coach and the current Falcons’ defensive coordinator.

Earlier Wednesday, after two days of speculation following the dismissal of Dan Henning as head coach last Monday, the Falcons and Vermeil’s attorney confirmed that Vermeil had been offered the job.

“I’m thinking about it, yes, because of Marion and Fred (Bruney) and those people down there,” Vermeil said in a telephone interview with the Philadelphia Daily News from his parents home in Calistoga, Calif.

Vermeil said he did not want to meet with Falcon management “until I had made up my mind I wanted to go back (into coaching). I asked them to give me a few days to think about it.”

Bob Goldy, Vermeil’s attorney and agent, said that the job had been offered to Vermeil. This was later confirmed by Falcon Executive Vice President Taylor Smith.

“If he decides he wants to go back to coaching, then he’ll take it further,” Goldy said. “But, yes, they have talked, and he is considering it.”

Vermeil, 50, coached the Eagles for seven seasons, including a 1981 Super Bowl loss to the Oakland Raiders, but quit after the 1982 season, saying he was “burned out.” He has since been working as a sports commentator for CBS television.