JIMMY Johnson is giving lessons to college football’s newest head coach, Michael Vick.
Vick is continuing his Fox NFL Sunday duties after signing on with Norfolk State, and Jimmy Johnson gave him a quick coaching lesson on live TV.
Michael Vick is taking a job as the next head coach at Norfolk State[/caption]
Johnson has plenty of experience coaching at the college level, spending time at Oklahoma and Miami before moving to the NFL.
He won the national championship with Miami in 1987.
With that experience in mind, Johnson shared some lessons for Vick’s upcoming coaching career.
“First of all, congratulations,” Johnson said.
“Number one, professional football is coaching, college football is recruiting. That’s the key.
“The second thing is keep it simple, because you’re going to have a lot of changes with your staff. Keep it simple.
“Success is who makes the fewest mistakes, not who makes the most great plays.”
After giving him some good advice, Johnson gave Vick his first whistle to use as Norfolk State’s head coach.
Vick was officially announced as the new head coach on Friday.
“I understand the position that Norfolk State is in,” Vick told Fox Sports.
“I understand where we are. There’s going to be a lot of kids out there that are looking for opportunities to play football, to play at a level where they can continue to grow.
“I’m looking forward to that part, working with kids each and every day, as opposed to, you know, a two-day football camp.
“Instead of watching them grow over two days, now I get to coach them each and every day with a great coaching staff who’s going to assist in making sure that these kids play their best brand of football.”
Vick shared that he reached out to Deion Sanders for some advice after taking the job.
“I reached out to Deion just to have a conversation with him,” Vick said.
“The conversation was more so about philosophy and the most important steps to get started.
College Football Playoff schedule
First-round games:
- No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame – Friday, Dec. 20, 8pm ET, ABC/ESPN
- No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State – Saturday, Dec. 21, 12 pm ET, TNT/Max
- No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas – Saturday, Dec. 21, 4 pm ET, TNT/Max
- No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State – Saturday, Dec. 21, 8 pm ET, ABC/ESPN
Second-round games:
- No. 3 Boise State vs. Penn State/SMU – Tuesday, Dec. 31, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN
- No. 4 Arizona State vs Texas/Clemson – Wednesday, Jan. 1, 1 pm ET, ESPN
- No. 1 Oregon vs Ohio State/Tennessee – Wednesday, Jan. 1, 5 pm ET, ESPN
- No. 2 Georgia vs Notre Dame/Indiana – Wednesday, Jan. 1, 8pm ET, ESPN
Semifinals:
- TBD vs TBD – Thursday, Jan. 9, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN
- TBD vs TBD – Friday, Jan. 10, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN
National Championship Game:
- TBD vs TBD, Monday, Jan. 20, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN
“He reminded me I’d have a bunch of people pulling for me.”
Vick was initially in conversations with Sacramento State for their vacant head coach position, but didn’t want to make a choice based on money.
“Sacramento State had a great situation. They had tons of NIL money and tons of opportunity,” Vick said.
“But I didn’t want to make my decision based on money. I wanted to make it based on what I could do and who I could sincerely help.
“And I think, you know, I can help on both sides. But I felt like it was great to go back home and do it in my backyard.
“And that was probably the deciding factor, having the chance to do it back where I grew up.”
