Michael Vick, Bill Belichick share something in common as college coaches — but they aren’t trailblazers

North Carolina made headlines last week by hiring legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick to succeed Mack Brown despite having zero coaching experience at the college level. Days after the Tar Heels made the stunning hire, Norfolk State tabbed Commonwealth State legend and former NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick as its new coach.

Norfolk State is an HBCU program of the FCS classification. The Spartans went 4-8 a year ago. 

Belichick has over 50 years of experience coaching in the NFL, while Vick has yet to coach in any capacity during his post-playing career. Vick was hired by the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football in 2019 as offensive coordinator but resigned before coaching a game due to other commitments. 

Vick and Belichick being hired as first-time coaches at the college level isn’t a new trend. Most notably, Jackson State hired Deion Sanders in 2020 to lead its program after his only experience in the coaching world was as a high school coach. Sanders spent two seasons at Jackson State before making the jump to Colorado in 2022. 

While Sanders’ hire has been viewed as a massive success, some hires fell short or never materialized. In 2022, Bethune-Cookman hired former NFL star safety Ed Reed after he previously served as Miami’s “Chief of Staff” and as a senior football advisor for the program. Just over three weeks after Reed’s hiring, the school announced it would not finalize his contract.

With Vick and Belichick both set to become first-time college coaches this season, here are some recent examples of programs that took a similar path to landing their next coach.

Michael Vick, Norfolk State (2024)

Vick will return to his home state of Virginia to coach for the first time. Vick was hired by the Atlanta…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/michael-vick-bill-belichick-share-something-in-common-as-college-coaches-but-they-arent-trailblazers/

Author : Cameron Salerno

Publish date : 2024-12-18 17:28:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.