Former NFL quarterback Mike Vick has accepted the head coaching job at Norfolk State, he announced on social media Tuesday night.
Sources confirmed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel earlier Tuesday that the Spartans were finalizing the deal with Vick, but Norfolk State officials declined to comment on Vick specifically when reached by ESPN. The officials said they would not release a statement Tuesday but planned to release one soon, indicating they were going through the formal steps of their hiring process.
Sources told ESPN that Vick, 44, informed Sacramento State officials that he was no longer in the mix for their open head coaching position and indicated to them he was taking a job closer to home at Norfolk State. Vick’s hometown of Newport News, Virginia, is about 20 miles from the Spartans’ campus.
In announcing his decision to join the Spartans, Vick wrote that he was “looking forward to coming back home.”
Norfolk State fired coach Dawson Odums in November after a 4-8 season. The historically Black school plays in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Spartans have made one appearance in the FCS playoffs, losing in the first round to in-state rival Old Dominion in 2011.
As a player, Vick carried Virginia Tech to the 1999 national title game and went on to become the first Black quarterback to be chosen with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. He has been an NFL analyst for Fox Sports since his retirement in 2017.
News of Vick’s plan to take the Norfolk State job was first reported by the Virginian-Pilot.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
