Former Eagles QB Michael Vick is reportedly the new head coach at Norfolk State University:

The first thought that immediately comes to mind is Deion Sanders, and Eddie George as well. There are a lot of similarities here. You’re talking about black former players taking their first college jobs at historically black colleges, in an era where player recruitment is less linear and the sport features more parity in general. Deion had a ton of success at Jackson State, took some of those players to Colorado with him, and is now 9-3 in year 2 with a bowl game against BYU coming up. George went 9-4 this season with Tennessee State and was named Big South-OVC Coach of the Year.

The difference between Deion and Vick is that Deion did coach in high school before college. Vick hasn’t coached anything, ever. But it’s not really about coaching experience, because Vick will attract a quality staff. It’s about name recognition and making a splash. It’s about putting Norfolk State on the map. Kids will want to play for Michael Vick the same way they wanted to play for Deion. And Vick is from that tri-city Virginia Beach area, so if you’re a local kid thinking about staying home, now you can play for one of the best NFL QBs of the last 25 years, a guy who knows what it takes to play in the NFL.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Vick can steal a decent recruit or two from JMU, UVA, or the Virginia Polytechnic Hokie Chokers. Remember, no one believed that a story like Travis Hunter’s could ever happen. Then it happened.