Michael Vick did great things with a football in the 2000s. Parallely, he did dreadful things as a human being. The two mutually coexisted for years, with the latter hidden from the world. When the gruesome truth came to light, Vick was rightfully chastised. Two decades later, the masses are polarized about whether he can be absolved of his past. 

In a development that seemingly transpired out of the blue, Michael Vick has been hired as the new head coach of Norfolk State. Vick, who played college football at nearby Virginia Tech, said he’s “looking forward to coming back home.” However, not everyone in the CFB sphere is pleased by the return of this 4x Pro Bowler. His past misdemeanors are etched in the image he projects. 

Michael Vick infamously went to prison for 18 months in 2007, perhaps at the peak of his NFL ascension at Atlanta Falcons. He was convicted for spearheading a dog fighting ring, both operationally and financially. Vick returned to the NFL in 2009 and played for 6 more seasons before his retirement. While he’s seemingly mended his ways and actively been a proponent of stopping animal cruelty, a pair of brothers are split on accepting this marred icon into their sport.

Jake and Blain Crain took to their shared Crain & Company YouTube channel to echo their stance. Jake said, “If somebody is going to take a chance on Michael Vick- and from everything I’ve heard and seen, he’s obviously turned his life around. He understands the error of his ways- maybe the best thing he could do to remedy the situation that got him in that hot water is to be able to affect people for the good and take on this role. Be a leader of young men…Maybe that’s the best way to come back like a phoenix rising from the ashes”.

Jake explicitly said he’s “rooting for him”. “I’m not going to be one of these people that says, ‘You know what? This happened. It was awful. You never deserve another chance.’” His co-host and brother Blain sits on the opposite end of this spectrum. When asked if he likes the idea of Michael Vick as a CFB head coach, he said, “No, I don’t.”

Blain Crain elaborated on this stance with fair reasoning. “I think Michael Vick’s a great player. Other people can forgive you, but I don’t. I don’t know how you’re gonna be a leader of men, to be honest, after you just did all that. You fought dogs for how long? So, you know, I’m all for a redemption story. Other people forgive, but I don’t. I don’t think this guy should be a head coach anywhere.” Blain Crain put it bluntly. Both schools of thought are valid.

So, has Micheal Vick truly “turned his life around”? Can he coach and inspire college athletes? One member of the media who’s followed him in close proximity shared an incident pertaining to these questions.

Veteran media figure shares a personal story epitomizing Michael Vick’s turnaround

After he got released from prison at the completion of his sentence in 2009, Former Colts HC Tony Dungy took Vick under his wing. The idea was to build him back up, both as a human and as a player, for an NFL return. Speaking on his namesake YouTube channel, Dan Patrick leveraged a personal story about spending time with the pair during this time. 

Dan Patrick shared that he met with Michael Vick and Tony Dungy at a prison yard once. There, Vick spoke to the inmates- and they responded positively to him. Dan stated that the inmates were mostly below the age of 25. This one story gives us insight into two things: how Vick appears to have got things on track, as well as how he can affect a group of young people.

It is worth noting that Michael Vick has not been in a head coaching capacity at any level. He’s merely taken some intern and coordinating roles across different steps of the game. Norfolk State is taking a huge gamble here, in more ways than one. With very little to no tangible reasoning, it’s difficult to say how Vick will do at this juncture. One thing is for certain- he’s going to perpetually divide opinion in every facet, on and off the gridiron.