While Dick Vermeil is widely known as a hard-working coach who won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams back in 1999, few know of his equally hard-working brother, Al. Behind the scenes, his strength and conditioning programs helped drive the 1981 49ers and the 1990's Chicago Bulls to greatness.
The Early Years
Al Vermeil was born in Calistoga, California on February 4, 1945. The youngest of four grew up in the heart of wine country, learning the art of wine-making at the feet of his vinter grandfather, Jean-Louis Vermeil. Little did he know just how similar wine making would be to his eventual profession.
Young Al starred on the football field, basketball court, baseball diamond and track at Calistoga High School and spent much of his free time fortifying his body through a weight lifting regimen. Under the direction of strength coach Bill, who guided him through a program developed by famed weight lifting coach Alvin Roy, Al Vermeil built himself into an athlete worthy of a scholarship.
But despite his diligence in the gym, he still lacked a certain level of natural talent to get a scholarship right out of high school and was forced to take the long road. Vermeil spent two years at the College of San Mateo and Napa Community College before taking his talents to Utah State where he excelled as a skill-position player. He played so well there that he was named to the school's all-time team when the NCAA celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1969. But Al Vermeil knew that he wasn't good enough for the NFL and sought to stay in the game any way he could.
The Coach
Al Vermeil graduated from Utah State University in 1968 with degrees in physical education and history before earning his masters in physical education at Kansas State. From there, he spent much of the 1970's coaching football near his hometown at Moreau Catholic High School.
His big break came when he left the prep ranks in 1979 to join Bill Walsh's staff and become the 49ers first strength and conditioning coach. With a program focused on free weights, medicine balls plyometrics and explosiveness, Al Vermeil turned sour grapes into vintage wine, just like his grandfather had done. Two years after finishing 2-14, the 49ers won the Super Bowl. Al Vermeil's life would never be the same.
The Chicago Bulls made him the NBA's first strength and conditioning coach in 1985 and the process started all over again. While Phil Jackson would eventually introduce the Bulls to the Triangle Offense, Al Vermeil spent much of his time fine-tuning his Conditioning Pyramid to the Bulls' needs. In his system, athletes went through a natural progress of work capacity through drills that emphasized strength, power and speed. Over the course of this process, Vermeil stressed Olympic lifting over bodybuilding and powerlifting, believing that the core was the most important aspect of a finely tuned athlete.
Chicago sure needed each of those attributes as well as that extra layer of intestinal fortitude as they pursued their first title and sought to dethrone the two-time defending champion Detroit Pistons. Known as the "Bad Boys" for their physical style of play, Al Vermeil's system was just as crucial as Michael Jordan's shot selection.
After finally overcoming their adversary in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the Bulls showed the world just how impactful Al Vermeil's system was in their success. The Bulls went on to dominate the decade and won five more titles. Al Vermeil was there for every one of them, becoming the only strength and conditioning coach to win championships in the NFL and the NBA.
A Lasting Influence
While with Chicago and long after, Dick Vermeil's baby brother has continued to influence fitness training in all corners of the athletic universe. He's consulted with several golf outfits such as the Nicklaus Academy of Golf and the Academy of Golf at Lakeway. In addition to the Bulls, he's also consulted with the basketball programs at the University of Iowa as well as the famed Kansas Jayhawks. and even the Los Angeles Lakers. While he hasn't coached much baseball, he's managed to coach both the Chicago White Sox and his hometown San Francisco Giants. He's even consulted with the U.S. Army Rangers at Fort Benning.
But Al Vermeil hasn't limited himself to just being a coach or a consultant. He's also delved into the literary world, writing articles for Golf Digest, the National Strength Coach Journal, Muscle and Fitness and Conditioning Association Journal along with a slew of conditioning manuals. In recognition to his decades of service, Al Vermeil was a charter member of the Strength Coaches Hall of Fame in 2003.
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