Thirty-five years ago, the man who would become a Philadelphia Eagles coaching legend couldn’t find enough time or energy.

Today, East Fallowfield resident Dick Vermeil’s life is overflowing with time and energy. It’s the perspective he’s gained that has made the biggest difference.

“If you allow a passion to become an obsession,” Vermeil said in a Philadelphia Inquirer column by Mike Sielski, “you’re in trouble.”

That summed up Vermeil’s situation in 1983, when burnout ended his Eagles coaching career after seven seasons — a remarkable feat in itself, considering that fewer than half of NFL head coaches last longer than two seasons.

A decade and a half of perspective after that led Vermeil back onto the field as head coach of the St. Louis Rams, then Kansas City Chiefs.

“Funny how Vermeil’s greatest flaw as a head coach made him perfect for Philadelphia. He cared too much,” Sielski wrote. “It only enhances his legend here. He remains beloved, not merely because he guided the Eagles to their first Super Bowl and showed such everlasting affection for and loyalty to his players and wore his emotions on his tears-soaked sleeve, but because he let everyone in.

“You could see how the game gave him joy and, ultimately, how it ground him up. It has become the standard by which we hold everyone who competes or coaches here.”

Read more of the retrospective on Dick Vermeil’s coaching career in the Philadelphia Inquirer here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage here.