Michael Vick in Talks With Sac State As NFL Legend Looks to Break Into CFB

Former Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick is considering entering the college football coaching carousel.

Vick is in active discussions with Sacramento State for its head football coaching position, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports on Monday. He has also reportedly had conversations with Norfolk State University.

“I did meet with him about his interest in Sac State football and our athletic rise,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who first broke the news of his interest in the Hornets on Monday.

Vick, 44, certainly wouldn’t be the first former NFL star to make a second career in college football, though he currently has no coaching experience. He could be following the path of Deion Sanders, who coached Jackson State before jumping to the FBS level when he took over the Colorado Buffaloes in 2023. Despite criticism about how much he’s used the transfer portal to rebuild the Buffaloes roster, Sanders has been able to catapult the team back into prominence with an AP Top 25 ranking this season. 

Both Norfolk State (4–8) and Sacramento State (3–9) play in the FCS division, though Sacramento State has mounted a campaign to earn an FBS bid. This past fall, after the Pac-12 and Mountain West entered another round of conference realignment, the Hornets launched a PR campaign to prove they’d be ready to accept an invitation to the next level. They have announced plans for a new, 25,000-seat football stadium and a partnership with the Sacramento Kings for men’s and women’s basketball to play in their arena should they reach the FBS level. 

A group of local business owners and politicians called the Sac-12 have said they secured $50 million worth of commitments to fund NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals. The money is contingent upon Sacramento State joining the Pac-12 or another FBS conference, and it would be paid out over the course of 10 years, the source tells FOS. 

“As you can imagine, given the success of our athletic programs, that our football head coach job is an attractive role,” Wood reportedly said.

Vick led the Atlanta Falcons to two playoff runs between 2001 and 2007, but he was forced to pause his NFL career to serve a 21-month prison sentence for his involvement in a dogfighting ring. Vick returned to the NFL and played for the Philadelphia Eagles for five years, before short stints at the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. He joined Fox Sports in 2017 as an analyst for Fox NFL Kickoff.