IT'S 6:30 A.M., and the first light has not yet popped up over the Mayacamas Mountains as Dick Vermeil climbs into the seat of a tractor.
On this September day in California's Napa Valley, it is harvest season. Vermeil is hauling petite sirah grapes from the fields to a collection point, where they will be taken to the winery for conversion into one of Vermeil Wines' 11 varietals.
Vermeil watches the frenetic pace of the workers around him. Seventeen years removed from his career as an NFL coach, the 86-year-old Vermeil still thinks and sounds like one.