Tip of the cap to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who caught up with former Rams coach Dick Vermeil and got him to open up about Lawrence Phillips, the troubled former Rams running back who was found dead Jan 13 at a California jail. The death of Phillips, who was 40-years-old, was ruled a suicide.

Phillips was drafted by the Rams in the first round of the 1996 draft, but was cut a year later during Vermeil’s first season with the team. Looking back, Vermeil wishes he could have done more to get Phillips on the right track.

“I’m disappointed we weren’t able to do more for him when I was there,” Vermeil told the Post-Dispatch. “I’ve said this many times, I wish I had been back in coaching for two or three years before I was confronted with him. Or never left coaching ad had all that experience in dealing with kids with problems.

“I probably could’ve have dealt with him better _ with better understanding. I’m sure my coaching staff would’ve been more informative with me if they knew him better.

“But it is what it is _ he’s gone.”

As Thomas pointed out in his story – which you can read here – Vermeil went above and beyond trying to help Phillips during their season together.

As so many others who tried to help Phillips during his troubled life, Vermeil couldn’t reach him.

“He’s been on a spiral down for a long time,” Vermeil told the P-D last week. “I saw him a couple times when I was coaching the Chiefs before he got in (the latest) trouble. He came in with Eric Warfield, my corner. He played with him in college.”

“What a waste of a person,” Vermeil said of Phillips’ death. “What a waste of a physical talent.”