Vermeil Turns Down Job Offer From Falcons

Dick Vermeil, who complained of burnout when he left the Philadelphia Eagles in 1982, told the Atlanta Falcons Saturday that he still is not ready to coach again.

The Falcons fired four-year Coach Dan Henning last Monday and then offered the job to Vermeil, now a CBS football commentator.

A team spokesman said Vermeil turned down the offer in a telephone conversation with Taylor Smith, the Falcons’ executive vice president.

Vermeil, contacted at his parents’ home in Calistoga, Calif., by Atlanta radio station WGST, said: “I decided not to take the job, not that it wasn’t a good job. It was the first time in four years I was considering going back because of the people there and how it (the deal) was presented to me.”

Vermeil said he plans to stay with CBS.