NORFOLK, Va. — Michael Vick’s phone rang a few days before Thanksgiving.
He wasn’t expecting a call, but the four-time Pro Bowler quickly picked up when he saw that Aaron Rouse, a Virginia state senator, was on the line. Vick and Rouse go back some 25 years, to when Rouse played football at Virginia Tech alongside Michael’s younger brother, Marcus.
Rouse had an important question for Vick to ponder over the holiday weekend.
Would he have any interest in becoming the next head football coach at Norfolk State?
The job opened up that day when NSU athletic director Melody Webb fired coach Dawson Odums after a 4-8 season in 2024 and a 15-30 overall record over his four seasons with the program.
“I had the conversation with Mike,” said Rouse, a Democrat who represents parts of Virginia Beach. “And I was like, ‘Yo, bro, this would be great, you coaching at an HBCU. This would be epic for the 757, it would be epic for you and also for the next generation of student-athletes.’”
A surprised Vick didn’t have an immediate response.
The former Virginia Tech and NFL star quarterback was living in Florida and working for Fox Sports as an NFL analyst. He wanted to get into coaching at some point, but he hadn’t expected an opportunity to come this soon.
Rouse could hear the tone in Vick’s voice shift on the other end of the phone. The wheels were turning. And when Vick confirmed he’d be interested, Rouse later connected him on a three-way phone call with Webb.
About three weeks later, on Dec. 17, Michael Vick announced to the world via his Facebook page that he was coming home.
“I believe in faith, family and football,” Vick told The Athletic earlier this month, “and I don’t think certain things get presented to you unless it’s of significant importance.”
The 45-year-old grew up about 30 miles away in Newport News, Va., and revolutionized college football with his dual-threat abilities for a Virginia Tech team that played for a national championship in the 1999 season. His 13-year NFL career was interrupted for two seasons when he spent 21 months in federal prison for his role in a dog-fighting ring, including bankrolling the operation.
He has spoken publicly about second chances and can serve as a mentor for his players, knowing what his life without football looked like.
“I get my redemption when God wakes me up every morning and gives me an opportunity to go out and live life like everybody else,” Vick said. “Make decisions, learn from mistakes, influence people and be a great father and husband. That’s what’s most important to me.”
Webb said she had no reservations about hiring Vick. “We all make mistakes,” she said. “I feel like he’s served his time.”
Vick kicks off his coaching career at a fascinating juncture for both the Spartans and the sport at large.
Norfolk State, an HBCU with a proud athletic tradition, is starved for football success. The Spartans have had just one winning season in the last decade-plus (2021) and haven’t made the FCS Playoffs since 2011, when they won the MEAC — a title they’d eventually vacate amid NCAA violations. And yet, the program led the conference in attendance (15,649) as recently as 2023, and in May, Norfolk State won its second consecutive Talmadge Layman Hill Men’s Sports Award, given to the MEAC school for overall athletic excellence across its men’s programs.
With the right coach, there’s no reason why Norfolk State — whose men’s and women’s basketball teams have each won three of the past five MEAC tournament titles — can’t establish itself as a consistent winner in football.
Webb and the Spartans administration are betting on Vick to be that catalyst.
Prior to his hiring, Vick was also in conversations with Sacramento State about its opening, but there’s no place like home. Vick grew up going to Norfolk State games as a kid with the Boys & Girls Club and still has family in the area. It all starts Thursday night when the Spartans host Towson at William “Dick” Price Stadium on ESPNU.
“I missed team bonding. I missed the camaraderie. I’m a locker room guy,” Vick said. “I came up in that world. Twenty-seven years of football — it’s just in me.
“And so I just wanted to get back into it.”
Webb needed no convincing when Rouse called and informed her that Vick was intrigued.
A Chicago native, she wasn’t local when Vick lit up Virginia high school football fields as a must-see prospect nearly 30 years ago. But she knew how much Vick meant to the area — and what a figure of his caliber could do for the university.
“I shot my shot, and I wanted to see how it was gonna play out,” said Webb, who was hired in July 2020 as the first female athletic director in Norfolk State history. “We knew he was our guy.”
Vick was intrigued but wanted to be sure he was ready for such a life-changing decision.
Over an early December dinner at local Virginia Beach restaurant Blackeyed Peas, he sought counsel from Tommy Reamon, his coach at Warwick High School and a longtime mentor before he passed away in May.
He also placed a call to Colorado coach Deion Sanders, a close friend who jumped into college coaching with only prep and high school experience when he took over HBCU Jackson State in 2020.
“Deion just told me, ‘You make it what you want it to be,’” Vick said. “And that put it into perspective for me. (Sanders was) like, ‘You can’t be like me, you can’t be like this coach, you can’t be like that coach, so don’t call this person and ask him how he does things. Make it what you want to be. You understand football.’
“Once I had that conversation with him, my outlook was different.”
Let’s go baby! We’ve got to support, encourage, assist & show consistent Love to Coach Vick! He’s forever changed to QB position in @cfb @NFL & he will have tremendous impact on Coaching & Leading men to their true destinations. Love ya my brother. @MichaelVick pic.twitter.com/xZYN8ROftl
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) December 23, 2024
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, a former teammate at Virginia Tech, was a sounding board, too. Beamer had a feeling that his friend of 25 years might be interested in coaching someday when Vick came to Columbia to speak to the Gamecocks in August 2021.
“Listening to him talk to the team, it seemed like a very natural progression if he ever did go into coaching,” Beamer said.
Webb said that Spartans players found out about Vick’s hiring online before she had a chance to tell them the news herself. But she quickly held a team meeting via video call during winter break before Vick’s introductory news conference so that players could say hello to their new head coach as soon as possible. With the December transfer portal window already in full force, Webb knew time was of the essence for Vick to build — and retain — a roster.
It’s about a winning culture 🥇🏆#GoldStandard🔰 pic.twitter.com/Id1kLoanHa
— Norfolk State Football 🔰 (@NorfolkStateFB) December 23, 2024
Vick, who signed a four-year deal with a base salary of $400,000 plus incentives, was formally introduced on Dec. 23. Allen Iverson and Bruce Smith, two fellow Hampton Roads legends, were in attendance, as well as a who’s who of local politicians. In the eight months since, Webb has had to get used to her growing popularity on campus.
“I’ve had students walk up to me and say, ‘Can I hug you?’” she said. ‘“I just want to thank you for believing in our program and bringing him on board.’
“It makes you feel good.”
On his first drive back into town after officially taking the job, Vick made a point to soak it all in.
It was January. It was cold, with snow on the ground — a far cry from the Florida sunshine. But he was on the road, recruiting, and took a second to appreciate the moment.
“I kept really having to pinch myself like, ‘Yo, this is actually what I’m doing right now. This is my life,’” he said. “These are the things that had to happen, and I put myself in position to do it.”
On the recruiting front, perhaps there is no one better than Vick to tap into the talent in the 757. Hampton Roads has produced the likes of Florida’s Percy Harvin, Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor, Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, Florida State’s EJ Manuel and Vick, among many others.
His first recruiting class was headlined by two-time first-team all-state linebacker I’Ziah Emery out of his alma mater, Warwick High School, and he also scored some big wins in the transfer portal, landing quarterback Israel Carter from South Florida and edge David Ojiegbe from Pitt.
Count Frank Beamer among those who believe Vick will settle right in. So often, as Beamer said, former star players struggle when they transition into coaching because they didn’t always need to understand fundamentals and could instead rely on their athleticism.
“But Michael, he always asked a lot of questions live,” Beamer said. “He wanted to know the background of stuff, and so I think Michael goes deeper than most people with great talent.
“He’s a guy with a lot of knowledge. He’s got the name. A lot of people want to play for Michael Vick.”
The Spartans are projected to finish fourth in the MEAC and landed five players on the preseason all-conference team. Vick wants this to be a group that absorbs his teaching and, perhaps more than anything, enjoys the process.
“We’re going to be tough,” he said. “I tell my guys, ‘Are we the most talented team in the country? Probably not. But can we be the toughest?’”
Webb believes fans will want to watch Vick’s team play.
In June, Delaware State — coached by Vick’s close friend and former Philadelphia Eagles teammate DeSean Jackson — announced that it would be moving its game against the Spartans from its home stadium in Dover, Del., to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia in anticipation of one of the biggest HBCU crowds of the year.
The Vick era has emerged to be the hottest sports story in and around Norfolk. Local businesses are gearing up for an economic boost, the university has been working for months to prepare, and celebrities have flocked to campus to catch a glimpse of the show. With Iverson, Smith and other local Hall of Famers paying attention, the Spartans will garner more national attention should Vick’s squad start winning.
Perhaps just like the signs around campus say — Now is our Time.
“All I can do is teach. I can’t play for the guys. I can’t help them. It makes me sad sometimes thinking about it,” Vick said. “But I’ve got to trust them, and I’ve got to let my boys be boys. It’s like a dad sitting back, watching your son walk through that fire and navigate it. But I trust them. And I’ll be proud of them regardless of how it goes. As long as they try.”
(Photo courtesy of Norfolk State Athletics)
