A quarter-century after quarterbacking Virginia Tech to the brink of a national title, Michael Vick is trying to bring championship football to Norfolk State as the Spartans’ newly minted head coach.

According to multiple sources, Vick and NSU agreed to terms of the contract on Tuesday. An introductory press conference is expected within a week. He replaces Dawson Odums, whom the Spartans fired last month after a four-season run that finished 15-30.

Newport News native and four-time NFL Pro Bowler Vick, 44, has never coached before, so the composition of the staff will be paramount. Sources say Vick has already contacted potential assistant coaches and support staff, and some of his additions will likely be familiar to fans.

During his NFL career, Vick played for two of the sport’s most renowned coaches: Andy Reid and Mike Tomlin. In four seasons with Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles (2009–12), Vick twice set career highs in passing yards, and as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1717, Reid hired Vick as a training camp intern.

“I think I really care about teaching the game of football,” Vick told ESPN’s Adam Schefter in a 2017 podcast. “I feel like I’ve learned so much from so many great coaches over the years. You know, I don’t want to accumulate a lot of knowledge and (I) really can’t pass on the messages that I want to convey to a high school kid because… you don’t have to dumb it down, but you can’t be that complex. And I understand that.

“So at the college or professional level you can express ideas. You can go into detail. You know you can train hard and that’s what I want to do.”

But instead of coaching, Vick switched to media. Since 2017, he has been an NFL analyst for Fox Sports, working in studio, contributing to FS1’s NFL coverage and appearing regularly on national radio shows such as Colin Cowherds.

Norfolk State’s last five coaches – Odums, Latrell Scott, Pete Adrian, Willie Gillus and Mo Forte – dated back to the late 1990s and had overall losing records with the Spartans. Odums’ only winning season was 6-5 in his debut in 2021, but half of those wins came against non-Division I opponents.

Realignment also gutted Norfolk State’s Mid-Eastern Athletic conference, with rivals like Hampton, North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman moving to other leagues. The Spartans are among just six MEAC football programs, a shortage that compounds the challenges of non-conference scheduling.

Michael Vick in talks to become head coach at Norfolk State

For each of the next two seasons, NSU will play in stadiums familiar to Vick. The Spartans travel to Rutgers in 2025 and Virginia in 1926, where he led Virginia Tech to victories in 1999.

Additionally, Norfolk State is scheduled to open the 2026 and 27 seasons at Old Dominion.

A Peninsula District star at Ferguson and Warwick high schools, Vick led Virginia Tech to an undefeated regular season and the national championship game as a redshirt freshman in 1999. That Sugar Bowl setback against Florida State was Vick’s only loss as a starter in two seasons with the Hokies.

The Atlanta Falcons selected Vick with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. He also played for the Eagles, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.

In 2006, his final year with Atlanta, Vick became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Only Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields have done so since then.

David Teel, [email protected]

Michael Sauls, [email protected]

Originally published: December 17, 2024 at 5:44 pm EST