Michael Vick reveals most humbling moment during Year 1 at Norfolk State

Michael Vick certainly had his humbling moments as a first-time head coach at Norfolk State this year. A 1-11 record can do that to you.

But it was all a learning experience for Vick, who jumped from being an analyst on FOX’s NFL pregame show to the sideline. But it hit him right away, as in, the first team meeting!

“First team meeting,” Vick said on Carmelo Anthony’s podcast, 7PM In Brooklyn. “Being a first-time coach, I didn’t know what I needed to step in and talk about. Fast forward to this year, 2026 I knew everything to talk about on my first day. There was so much anxiety in that first one, like, how do I come across? And you see every player just looking at you … hanging on to every word, waiting.

“…You know, when I first took the job, (my wife) was kind of straddling the fence on it. You know, I’m walking away from FOX and walking away from a career that I built eight years, it was amazing there. And she was like, if you’re gonna do it, I think you should try to maybe document everything, then it’s gonna make you vulnerable. You’re gonna be put in situations where you might not know what to do. But I’m like, ‘yo, that’s good content. Let’s do it.’ I’m gonna be courageous in this situation, even though the anxiety is there, the nervousness is there, because it’s the unknown. I don’t know what I’m getting myself into.”

Vick knew this was an opportunity for him, his staff and his players. Despite the bad record, they know Year 2 can be different after a growing experience.

“But it’s an opportunity. I’m gonna grow into this role and I’m accepted, and I’m gonna be vulnerable in front of my players,” Vick said. “And we went 1-11, and I would have never documented anything, but I will say this, my team never quit … and we maxed out in talent … But it turned out to be the most amazing experience ever, from what I learned to interacting with my coaches to the players … 

“I got players that’s going to the Legacy Bowl, I got a couple players that’s going probably gonna get drafted late, but they’ll be drafted. So some great things came out of it, some great positives and so, shit, man, a lot of emotion, cried a lot, not because of the football part, because I knew the football was gonna be strenuous, but more so because I knew I had to sacrifice a lot.” 

Vick also lost to former Philadelphia Eagles teammate DeSean Jackson, who was in the first year as head coach of Delaware State. The two schools squared off at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Moving forward, since Vick is all in with Norfolk State, he’s ready to rock. An 1-11 record is going to be used as fuel for Vick.

“But that 1-11 fueled my fire,” Vick said. “If you ain’t ready to get back at this and get this right. Man, then I turned my back, I said, go ahead and leave (to the players in the meeting) … Man, if you want to leave, go ahead. Walk out. I turned around (they were) all sitting right there, I said, ‘so y’all locked in?’ ‘Coach, let’s do it.’”