Q&A with DV(6:05pm) 9/8 link

[Wile_E_Coyote]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news_article...JCRNPT8XQJE4YE

[Chiefs Pantalones]

Lazy ass.


Q&A with Dick Vermeil - 9/8
9/08/2004 6:05 PM

“To find out how good you are you might as well go to Denver. Mike (Shanahan) has had such an outstanding opening record up there, so it’s going to be a pretty good test for us.

“We all go into a league opener expecting to be better. The Broncos have acquired Luther Elliss and when he’s healthy he’s a big strong guy who can play. I’ve coached against Raylee Johnson in the last three years, so I’ve seen him. We evaluated DJ Williams when he was in college and thought he was an outstanding guy. Al Wilson is strictly a pain in the rear end for us. He’s a great football player. Now that they’ve got Champ Bailey, that’s not going to hurt them. They bring John Lynch there and he has that great experience. If he’s lost anything at all he doesn’t show it in the tapes.

“I thought we had a good football practice (today), especially the first half of the practice. It was a long practice with full pads. The offensive and defensive linemen and linebackers all took 42 snaps in six play series’ of different situation type football, excluding seven-on-seven. They had a lot of reps.

“What I liked the most was the intensity of the defensive line. They’re starting to take over the tempo of our practice and they should.”

Q: Describe your relationship with this team?

DICK VERMEIL: “I think I have a very good relationship with this football team. I think they trust me and I think I trust them. Those that I don’t trust I have on a list and I know who they are, but they are very few. I give players a lot of responsibility and respect. I work their butts off and they complain a little, but it doesn’t do them any good.

“But I’d say I have a very good relationship with this football team. My whole coaching staff does.”

Q: Why did you make so few changes on the defense and how do you see it now?

DICK VERMEIL: “Because I thought the defense was young, I thought I could recognize some of the problems, and I felt we were getting better. We were not as bad as our numbers looked. When you win 13 games it isn’t too bad; when you win 13 games in a row at home and only give up an average of 14.2 points you’re not doing too bad.

Q: Do you plan on putting something on dey ass this Sunday?

DICK VERMEIL: I hope so, I hope so. Denver has a very nice ass. As a matter of fact, when you put all the asses together over the last ten years, they probably have the best ass. Now can we put something on that ass? I hope so. Mike Shanahan is going to have their asses ready, but we'll be ready as well. They've got some nice asses on that team. Griffen, the running back out of Oklahoma, our scout team scouted his ass very well when he was in the draft, and we thought his ass had potential. And Champ Bailey probably has the best ass on the team. A fine, fine ass. I feel good about our asses, though, but even more about putting something on their asses. We'll see how it goes. We're gonna try to have our guys ready as coaches, and then it's up to the players to put something on their ass.

Q: Is it more of a progression with the defense?

VERMEIL: “I think it’s more fundamentals tying in with scheme and intensity rather than alignment and assignment. That comes with confidence and familiarity and then playing the game. I think they’re starting to take over the tempo of our practices, which is good. I like where they’re going.”

Q: What do you believe is the strength of your defense?

VERMEIL: “I think the strength of our defense is going to be the down linemen. Our approach is a little bit more downhill and a little more aggressive than we have played it in the past. Hopefully, it’ll turn some guys on who are big and can run. We’ll set them loose a little bit more to penetrate, to disrupt.

“Our different style of linebacker play, I think, could be conducive to at least help us against the run.

“I think our secondary is going to be better than it’s been. It’s the same guys but they’ve had a very, very good training camp. They have really made a commitment like they have for all three years, but they’re better today. Eric Warfield is a better football player than he was. Dexter McCleon missed some time with shoulder problems, but William Bartee’s had a very, very positive camp. Our two safeties when they are healthy are a very good pair of safeties that distinguish themselves.

“So, I feel pretty good about our defense. We may not be what we’re going to be in the league opener but, hopefully, once we get one-third into the season we’ll definitely see the results. To date, we’ve played our backup defensive linemen a specific number of reps – more than we played our starters. So, hopefully, they’ll be fresh and ready to go.

“I don’t believe in miracle workers. I believe in good coaching. Greg Robinson did a good job. We just didn’t get the final touch done to our defense. I just hope the added experience will help and I hope Gunther’s toughness and intensity level on the practice field will carry over into how we play. I’d like to believe that the little more aggressive approach up front will take advantage of our people who can run just a little bit more. Only time will tell if it’s any better.”

Q: Can you elaborate on this toughness Gunther brings?

VERMEIL: “More often than not players and especially positions reflect the personality of the guy coaching them. Gunther is a naturally intense guy and gets after everybody: the all-pro and the college free agent all the same. Nobody is immune to being coached intensely. I think it’s a good thing especially on defense. It helps reinforce the assistant coaches, too, because then they’re driving and pushing guys. That player then has no place to turn because he doesn’t want to go to Gun because it’ll get worse.

“So, I think that helps me because it’s a philosophy that I really sincerely believe in as long as it’s done with respect of the player. I don’t ever like to make it personal. You are correcting a mistake, nothing more.

“So I think it helps develop the kind of tempo you have to play with to play better on Sunday.”

Q: You think it’s affecting other areas of the team?

VERMEIL: “Oh yeah, that second offensive line better strap it on. We had pads on today and the defensive line was coming off the ball with the linebackers coming down hill. That young offensive line has got to play like Sunday. That helps them get better.”

Q: Was that an element you guys lacked last year?

VERMEIL: “Well, I never felt that we were aggressive enough. I think the approach is a little more aggressive because of a little change in philosophy. We just sort of pitched priorities. Start the fight and then go play the game. Only time will tell. We haven’t stopped anybody, shut anybody out. But I like the direction we’re going.”

Q: You talked the other day when you traded R-Kal Truluck that Jared Allen made him obsolete.

VERMEIL: “Didn’t make him obsolete, made him available.”

Q: But regardless of that, R-Kal just wasn’t Gunther’s kind of guy was he?

VERMEIL: “Yeah.”

Q: I mean the tough guy.

VERMEIL: “Oh yeah, tough kid. In fact, there were times in training camp when he was rotating with the first unit in front of Vonnie Holliday and doing a pretty good job. Now, at 260 pounds playing tight run techniques and slamming into 340 pound tackles is not how to best utilize his skills. What’s he best at is putting his hand on the ground and getting up-field rushing the passer. That’s really what he’s best suited for. Everybody likes those kinds of guys. But R-Kal’s a tough guy. I’ve always thought he was aggressive. He just didn’t get enough opportunity here, I don’t think. I don’t think he ever had enough reps. But good plays per snap, he had a very high percentage.”

Q: How big a concern do you have with two rookie kickers going into the season?

VERMEIL: “I live in a state of concern. I think all head coaches live in a state of concern. I thought we had to make the change not only for the league opener but for the season. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong.

“I coached special teams in 1969 and then another time in 1974. That’s the last two times I was directly responsible for special teams. But as a head coach you’re responsible for them every year you’re a head coach. I have to go on what I saw on the practice field and what I saw in the pre-season games and what I recognize in my veterans.”

Q: Why have you been so successful in special teams in Kansas City?

VERMEIL “I don’t know, maybe it’s the emphasis we put on it. With (former head coaches) Marty (Schottenheimer) and Gunther (Cunningham) I imagine they did the same thing. We’ve put a lot of time and money to keep specific players on our roster that can make an outstanding contribution. If they can’t chances are we won’t keep them on our roster.

“We invest a lot of time on it. We’re on the field 30 minutes a day excluding specialists period. That’s Wednesday and Thursday and 20 minutes on Friday and 10 minutes on Saturday. We devote a lot of time to it. We devote a lot of time to it in pre-season and in training camp. There’s only one way to get better and that’s work at it and have good players and coach it.”

Q: You talked about possibly having Jared Allen long-snap on punts. Has a decision been made on that yet?

VERMEIL: “Right now we’re staying with Kendall (Gammon). I haven’t shut the door on that all.”

Q: But Jared wouldn’t snap if you had the ball deep in your own endzone would you?

VERMEIL: “The first place you’d like him to snap is when you’re darn sure you’ve got to cover a punt. So, back on the 30-yard line going out, not punting it inside the 10 or your own endzone, where you could really utilize his coverage skills. You get one more man on that front wall covering.”

Q: Are you concerned about Dante Hall getting too many hits as a wide receiver and kick returner?

VERMEIL: “There’s only so many hits that people can take at any position. The more you take the more you risk injury. We’ve got Johnnie Morton back now and we may not start him this week but I think he’ll soon go back into a starting role. He had a real good day of practice on Monday.

“I think (Hall) will play more, but not a lot more. Therefore, we’ll be able to keep him fresh for the return game as well.”

Q: Have you decided Dante’s role for this game? Have you found that balance?

VERMEIL: “I think what’s eventually going to happen is he’ll be playing that same role he did last year: be our kick returner and our third wide receiver. He caught 49 balls last year and, hopefully, more this year. But he’ll play that same role. Johnnie Morton will play the starting role. He could start Sunday, but he missed a lot of work and maybe Dante deserves to start the opener.”

Q: Do you anticipate Dante will do all the returns this week?

VERMEIL: “Right.”

Q: How did Johnnie Morton look today?

VERMEIL: “Good. He looked good. I asked him after practice how he felt and he said he felt good.”

Q: Do you expect him to start on Sunday?

VERMEIL: “I don’t know if I expect him to start, but I expect him to play a lot.”

Q: Are you comfortable with Richard Smith going into the game?

VERMEIL: “You’re never real comfortable but he has played with great poise within a very, very limited game plan or no game plan in the pre-season. Now, with the expanded offense and game plan I saw him make a mistake out there today and I get a little more concerned. But he’s got a lot of natural poise. The game is not too big for him and I think that’s one of the things that impresses us the most about him.”

Q: At this point he’s only an injury away from having to do that. Would you have to define his role real tight if it happened?

VERMEIL: “In the pre-season we worked him at two positions and he handled it. We started introducing the offense to him one way and then put him at the other spot and reintroduced it and he did a good job. Charlie Joiner’s an excellent coach and has his own unique quiet way of coaching his kids. They’re usually on the same page. If we have to play him in regard to a big role I think he’d do ok.”

Q: Both he and Benny Sapp were undrafted and made this team. This team maybe gets more mileage out of those guys than anyone in the league. What is it about those kinds of players that beat the odds?

VERMEIL: “First it’s a credit to our personnel department and our coaches that evaluate the positions and then make the recommendations after the draft and then go sign them. Obviously, if we thought they were going to make our football team we would have drafted them. But you have to be able to locate those kinds of players.

“My first year in the league in 1976 as a head coach we drafted 16 rounds. Those guys (you’re talking about) would have all been drafted players. So, we take very serious those un-drafted college free agents. I think of them as eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th round draft choices.”

[the Talking Can]

VERMEIL: “More often than not players and especially positions reflect the personality of the guy coaching them."


I think that is the most honest thing yet that DV has said about GR.

GR was hesistant and confused and his defense reflected it.

[Wile_E_Coyote]

"Lazy ass."


okay I won't even post a link next time

[Chiefaholic]

Nice read.....thanks for the link