Michael Vick has been a college football phenom, an NFL star, a convicted felon, a cautionary tale, a comeback player of the year and, recently, he became a hall of famer.
Now, he’s Coach Vick.
Norfolk State, a historically black FCS school in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in Vick’s home state, is hiring the former Virginia Tech quarterback whose NFL career was interrupted when he served nearly two years in prison to be its head coach on Tuesday, sources briefed on the situation told The Athletic.
The move was not immediately announced by the school, but Vick’s former high school coach and longtime mentor Tommy Reamon told The Athletic he has been advising Vick on a coaching career and plans to join his staff at Norfolk State.
“I am so excited for him to do this because I think he’ll be a great coach,” Reamon said. “He’s so personable, and he is charismatic. You’ve gotta be charismatic (to coach) in 2024, and that’s why he is gonna win. I’m excited to watch him as he communicates with the children.”
The Virginian-Pilot first reported the hiring. Vick told the newspaper: “I know how to lead and I know what it takes.”
The hiring echoes similar moves by other HBCUs in recent years, handing their football programs over to high-profile former NFL stars. Most notably, Deion Sanders started his college coaching career at Jackson State before jumping to Colorado after three seasons at the SWAC school. Eddie George, the former Ohio State Heisman Trophy winner and Tennessee Titans star, is in his fourth season as head coach at Tennessee State.
“I bet he and I have talked about Deion’s situation, and him 100 times,” Reamon said. “Those two kids (Vick and Sanders) are perfect examples of taking their talent, with all that charisma, to then become a head coach football today.”
“Michael has the voice. People are gonna relate to him especially when we get in these houses.”
Vick will replace Dawson Odums, who was 15-31 in four seasons with Norfolk State.
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Vick, 44, grew up in Newport News, Va., about 25 miles north of Norfolk, and went to Virginia Tech, where he led the Hokies to the national title game against Florida State after the 1999 season as one of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in college football history. Vick played two thrilling seasons at Virginia Tech, finishing third in the Heisman voting as a redshirt freshman in 1999.
“He came and talked to our team at South Carolina in August of 2021 and I knew then that he had a passion for possibly coaching,” said Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer, who has been friends with Vick since 1998 and whose father, Frank, coached Vick at Virginia Tech. “I’m really excited for him and I know he will crush it at Norfolk State.”
Vick was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in January.
He jumped to the NFL after three years in Blacksburg and became the No. 1 overall pick for the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. Vick’s NFL career took off in 2004 when he led the Falcons to the NFC championship game. In 2006, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.
At the height of his stardom and peak of his physical performance, Vick’s downfall was shocking. In 2007, Vick pleaded guilty to being involved in a dog fighting ring at a property he owned in rural Virginia and was sentenced to nearly two years in prison. He also had to pay back parts of his multimillion-dollar contract with the Falcons.
Vick was released from prison in 2009 and pledged to use his demise as a lesson for others. His return to the NFL with Philadelphia drew protests, but he went on to play seven more seasons in the league, becoming a starter for the Eagles from 2010-12.
“That is the script. I was watching all of that, and I’ve seen him grow,” Reamon said. “He has done so many things to get out of the holes that he had dug for himself.”
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(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)