After a rollercoaster NFL career, Atlanta Falcons legend Michael Vick had a grounding start to his new journey as the head coach of Norfolk State University. His new role was a baptism by fire as the Spartans finished 1-11. Reflecting on the challenging start, Vick just shared how emotional this job has been during a recent interview with HOT 97.

“I shed a lot of tears in this,” Vick said in his interview. “It was times when things ain’t going the way you want them to go. You just want to cry. You find a reason to cry. So I’ll be in front of the camera, and we just lost a tough game or something. I know we should have won, and I want to cry for the play. I just can’t break down and cry.”

With this interview, Michael Vick was promoting his BET docuseries, The Coach Vick Experience, which presents an inside look at the legendary quarterback’s first stint as a head coach. At Norfolk State University, Vick has been working with young athletes who come from tough realities, and that perhaps makes the season tougher to accept.

The Norfolk State Spartans opened the season caught between promise and pain. It began with a sobering 27–7 blowout loss to the Towson Tigers, before hope briefly flickered. A week later, they had a gritty 34–31 overtime win over the Virginia State Trojans. That moment, however, proved fleeting. No other wins followed, and the optimism was crushed almost immediately by a brutal 60–10 defeat at the hands of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Still, even in a difficult year, there were flashes worth noting. Quarterback Otto Kuhns emerged as a clear bright spot, eclipsing 2,000 passing yards for the first time in his career. On the outside, JJ Evans and Dresan Kendrick gave the Spartans reliable production, combining for 12 total touchdowns (6 each).

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Highlighting this part of his job, the NFL legend also revealed that his players often open up to him, prompting him to reflect on his own journey.

“You start hearing their personal stories, and what they’re going through in their lives, it instantly takes you back to when you was in that situation,” Vick further added. “Some of them got young brothers and sisters, and come from different parts of the world, environments where it might be poverty-stricken. This is the only outlet they have to make a way for themselves.”

While this first year was a humbling experience for Michael Vick, the former first-overall pick is optimistic about the 2026 season with the Norfolk State University Spartans, especially after receiving some important advice from a certain NFL Hall of Famer who also took the HBCU route to begin his coaching journey.

Michael Vick expresses optimism ahead of his second season with the Spartans

After a challenging 2025, Michael Vick and Norfolk State will start the 2026 season against Winston-Salem State University on August 29. With three new quarterbacks incoming and 100% participation in current strength and conditioning programs, Vick is excited about his second year with the Spartans, as he shared during his appearance on the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast with Carmelo Anthony.

“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.’”

Vick also revealed he was in brief touch with NFL Hall of Famer and Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, who gave him some no-nonsense advice to “Do it your way. Don’t screw it up, but do it your way.”

With his hopeful outlook for the upcoming season, all attention will be on Michael Vick. Fans will be looking to the NFL superstar to make a significant impact at Norfolk State University and lead them to victory.