A "burned-out" Dick Vermeil resigned as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1982, and many observers believed that his coaching career was over. Vermeil, however, knew that he still had a lot to prove.

	Dick Vermeil is very happy with the play of his division-leading St. Louis Rams.

"I've always said that winning isn't complicated, people complicate it," Vermeil told Gary Miller recently on ESPN's Up Close. "I've always believed that and I wanted the opportunity to prove it and I wanted to find out if I could handle it again, because I left the game feeling that I had failed at the end of my career. I don't want to finish my career up feeling I failed as a football coach."

Vermeil's St. Louis Rams, the NFL's surprise team of the year, are on the verge of clinching the NFC West title. Vermeil said there were signs the last couple of years that a turnaround could happen soon.

"The last two years we've played with either the first or the second or third toughest schedule in football with a rebuilding program, and therefore our won-loss record showed it," Vermeil said. "This year we are much better football team, our schedule hasn't been as demanding, but we have dominated a less demanding schedule."

An edited transcript of Vermeil's comments follows:

Miller: To go from 0-8 in the NFC West to 6-0 this year, how much has changed, how much have you changed?

Vermeil: Well, I've changed some, but the San Francisco 49ers aren't what they were, the Atlanta Falcons aren't what they were, and there are four wins right there. Last year, you forget, maybe, that we beat three playoff teams, we also played more playoff teams than any other team in the National Football League last year in playing 10; so we had a tough schedule, so it was tougher for us. Then we lost our skilled people, including Isaac Bruce, and our running back and quarterback and some other people, so we weren't as good as we should have been at that time. But a lot of those guys that were playing as inexperienced players last year are playing with one more experienced year under them now. And you add the talent and the new coaching and the job that (offensive coordinator) Mike Martz has done, we are just a lot better football team, plus the schedule has been very beneficial to the Rams.

Miller: This year you have had some grief over the schedule, because you are winning against non-winning teams (the Rams don't have a win against a team with a winning rectord); is too much being made over your schedule being too soft?

Vermeil: Well, I don't make the schedule, so I can't say it's too soft; at the start of the year we thought we were playing the Super Bowl team twice (the Atlanta Falcons) and a playoff team twice (the 49ers), and it just didn't happen that way. But what I was talking about as a benefit is that we opened each division game at home. I think that is an advantage, and it just happened that way. The last two years we've played with either the first or the second or third toughest schedule in football with a rebuilding program, and therefore our won-loss record showed it. This year we are much better football team, our schedule hasn't been as demanding, but we have dominated a less demanding schedule. So I am not going to spite my players or talk down to them because of that. We are doing what we are paid to do, win football games.

Miller: Do you wish that there was a bigger test on the schedule before you get to the playoff season? (the Rams' remaining games are vs. Carolina, New Orleans, NY Giants, Chicago, and Philadelphia).

Vermeil: Well, I say this, Gary, every week is a big test for us. New Orleans did a great job, they did a great job of coaching, especially in the first half, yesterday. I have a lot of respect for Mike Ditka and his staff, and their kids played very hard; it could have very well been a much tighter football game if they wouldn't have missed that field goal, and they lost a little edge and we gain some momentum. We don't look down our noses at anybody, we are not a Super Bowl team, we are not even a playoff team yet.

Miller: How significant was that first game against the 49ers, when you were 3-0. You had lost to them 17 straight times, how much did that mean to the team?

Vermeil: I think it was very big. I think there are games that help you get over a hump, and we had been struggling in this organization long before I got here. I didn't assume the responsibility for all of those losses, there are only eight guys playing right now who were on the roster when I took over. This is a new, young football team, but it was big, very big and to do it as convincingly as we did it, made it even a bigger confidence-builder for our football team.

Miller: Did you have any idea that Kurt Warner could have this type of football season?

Vermeil: I thought Kurt Warner would be a very solid back-up, and by mid-season, if he had to go in and play a game or two, that he would be a good player and that we could win with him. I did not anticipate him to be able to perform at the level he is performing, nobody could. And if I had thought he could play that well a year ago, I would've played him instead of Tony Banks. Obviously I had confidence in him before we let Tony go, who could've been our second quarterback and starter and with starter experience. I went with the other guy in Kurt Warner, so I had confidence in his ability, but no way could I tell that he could play like he is playing.

Miller: How do you explain it?

Vermeil: Well, first off he is gifted, he has a gift, both mentally and physically. Yesterday was his 12th game in the National Football League, his 12th game. But when he took over, I did say this, I said it many times, that he would play better than any first round pick picked in the draft in that position this year; (when I said that), people looked at me sort of funny. The reason I said that is he has played a lot of football, in the Arena League, the three seasons in the Arena League, it is all game experience and each one of those games meant as much to him, then, in that time of his career, as the games he competes in today. Then he played a whole year in the World League and did an outstanding job; we put him in the World League and followed him, I think that is why he is way ahead of it.

Miller: When you learned that quarterback Trent Green was going to be out for the year, you got very emotional. We're not used to seeing NFL coaches cry...

Vermeil (laughing): I've seen other head coaches cry. I've seen Marty Schottenheimer cry, I've seen George Allen get tears in his eyes, I've seen Chuck Knox cry. But the trouble with me is I get exposed in public too often. I guess I am just a little too emotional, but hey, that is what I am all about, I guess. I don't know, I try not to be, I've tried not to be, believe me.

Miller: How have you tried and failed to not be too emotional?

Vermeil: I try not to think about how much I feel about a specific person or a topic that I am talking about. If it is something I am very compassionate about and really care about, it makes me well up; I just don't start bawling, but I will get tears in my eyes. I have always done that, all through my coaching career and dealing with my family and things that hit me closely that I really cared about. I've embarrassed myself a number of times, but I have learned to live with it.

Miller: After your win against the Saints yesterday, Mike Ditka responded harshly to a reporter's question about whether he was still "the right man for the job." Here's what he said:

Mike Ditka (Sunday): "Did I do anything out there wrong? Did I drop the ball? Did I miss the field goal? Did I miss the tackles? I'm not sure, did I throw the interception?"

Miller: Do you feel special empathy for Mike Ditka because he gets emotional over losing?

Vermeil: Well, yes I do. First off, I have tremendous respect for him and he is the right guy. There isn't a tougher guy in the league. In fact the reason I didn't kneel on the ball at the end of the game yesterday, was because I know Mike Ditka is a fighter 'till the last inch or the last minute of a round. I didn't think he would appreciate it if we kneeled down at the end, so I just let the guys run the game out; I would just assume not score out of respect for Mike Ditka. Right now we are sitting pretty good, but I've been with my kids, I've known that feeling (of losing) and I can appreciate it.

Miller: Explain why Marshall Faulk was still carrying the ball at the end of the game.

Vermeil: I took him out, and then the offensive linemen came to me, and they wanted to get him 100 yards rushing. He needed 12 yards, and I am also in charge of team morale; I said, "if it means that much to you, then we will go ahead and give him twelve more yards and then get him out," and that is exactly what we did.

Miller: One of your former players, Lawrence Phillips, was released again, this time by the San Francisco 49ers. Why do you think a message has not gotten through to Lawrence Phillips?

Vermeil: Well, sometimes problems are a lot deeper than coaches like myself are qualified to evaluate. You know, I think if he had been their starter and carried it (the ball) a lot, it would have never been a problem. But this guy, the only time he feels comfortable and totally satisfied is when he is playing the game, and just to practice and not play would bother him and it would generate and regurgitate some of the problems that he has had in his life, and maybe just chip away a little at his instability. Therefore he would flare up that way, but I still think, at the right place and the right situation, he could find a way to be successful. There is enough good in this guy, if he doesn't keep traveling the same pattern, he could make it.

Miller: You think he could play another time in the NFL?

Vermeil: Oh, I think so.

Miller: Do you see similarities to what is happening this year to your days in Philadelphia, when you led the Eagles to the Super Bowl?

Vermeil: Oh, no question, there is no question, though the mechanics of rebuilding a football team are much better here then they were in Philadelphia at that time. Because when I went to Philadelphia, they didn't have a first, second or third round pick my first three years, and they had been losing. So coming here, having my draft choices and having the ability to sign free agents, because of the leadership of John Shaw and others in our ownership, it looked like something that could be done with time.

Miller: When you left the Eagles, you said you were burned out. Does it bother you that you are still associated with the term "burnout"?

Vermeil: It doesn't bother me, not at all. You know, I have talked to a lot of people, major, major executives that have said the same thing. But they weren't on national television; I coined it, there was a book written on "burned out" and that kind of thing. I made it public by saying it, I didn't know what else to say. I was just emotionally run out and because of my temperament and personality type, and being way too emotional and way too intense, that I ran out of gas and I was no longer proud of the job that I was doing coaching. I coach because I love the game, not because they pay me to do it. I still feel that way, and if I don't think I am doing a real good job, I am going to give the responsibility to somebody else to do.

Miller: What was the big lure to give up television to go back to coaching?

Vermeil: Well, I had to prove to myself that I could do it, and I was running out of time at 60 years old and I didn't think I would get another opportunity. I turned down a number of opportunities to do it in that 14-year period, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I've always said that winning isn't complicated, people complicate it. I've always believed that and I wanted the opportunity to prove it and I wanted to find out if I could handle it again, because I left the game feeling that I had failed at the end of my career. I don't want to finish my career up feeling I failed as a football coach. And the other thing is that I missed being the leader, I missed being the boss, I missed being the decision-maker, I missed being the guy that players lean on when they have some problems and need some help and coaching staff and I missed that kind of responsibility.

Miller: How important is it to have home-field advantage in the playoffs?

Vermeil: Well, I think for us especially, for as young as we are and where we are at a talent level right now, home-field advantage is critical if you really want to go to Georgia (site of the Super Bowl). If you want to go to Georgia, for us, first we have to get in the playoffs, then we have to have home-field advantage.