Vermeil Is Said to Have Decided About Atlanta

Dick Vermeil has made up his mind about whether to accept a job as coach of the Atlanta Falcons, an Atlanta television station reported, but has not been able to reach members of the Rankin Smith family, which owns the Falcons, to inform them of his decision.

Vermeil, 50, who did not disclose his decision publicly, has been out of coaching since he quit the Philadelphia Eagles in 1982, claiming “burnout.” He since has been a television sports commentator for CBS.

He said earlier in the week that the Falcon offer interested him, but he needed time to decide whether he could “get back into the frame of mind” to coach again in the NFL.