HBCU Football Flirts With Getting Its Latest High-Profile Head Coach
Source: Ryan Hunt / Getty
According to reports, Michael Vick, a former NFL and Virginia Tech standout quarterback, said Monday that he has interviewed for the head coaching position at Norfolk State.
Vick confirmed the news from his Florida home to the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press that he has spoken with university president Javaune Adams-Gaston and Spartans sports director Melody Webb and anticipates a resolution “soon.”
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Vick stated that Norfolk State officials approached him and that he is fascinated by the potential opportunity to give back to the Hampton Roads community, which has always supported him.
Although Vick has no formal coaching experience, he expressed his confidence in knowing how to lead and what it takes.
He says his plan would be to hire seasonal coaches to help him with the transition.
This news comes after a lengthy search that began with no longer having Dawson Odums present.
During Odums’ four years, his teams went 15-31, with each of his last three seasons ending in a loss.
Vick is from Newport News and used to play in the NFL. He was an intern with the Kansas City Chiefs during training camp and was supposed to be the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football, a now-defunct spring league, but ended up becoming an assistant instead.
Vick has been an NFL analyst for Fox Sports since 2017. He has been a studio expert for Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL pregame show that airs every Sunday during the NFL season. He also helps with FS1’s NFL coverage.
Monday afternoon, Adam Schefter took to social media to report that Sacramento State is also in talks to hire Vick as its new head coach.
If Vick is hired by Norfolk State, he would be the latest high-profile head coach to join the HBCU football ranks, including but not limited to Deion Sanders at Jackson State University from 2020 to 2022 and Eddie George, who has been leading the Tennessee State University Tigers since 2021.
Like Vick, both Sanders and George were also NFL standouts who enjoyed long professional careers.
In 2022, Super Bowl champion, NFL Hall of Famer, three-time interceptions leader and loyal decade-long safety for the Baltimore Ravens, Ed Reed, was hired as the head football coach at Bethune-Cookman University, an HBCU in Daytona, Florida. However, the hiring was short-lived and rescinded following controversy from Reed criticizing not only Bethune-Cookman but other HBCUs.
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Jackson State Paid $800K To End Decades-Long HBCU Football Tradition, Documents Show
’60 Minutes’ Accuses Deion Sanders Of ‘Abandoning The Mission At Jackson State’