How Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson are navigating the ‘culture shock’ of coaching at an HBCU
The turnaround at Delaware State has been quick for Jackson, but not easy. Vick is focused on building a culture at Norfolk State, which has struggled on the field in his first year.
DeSean Jackson sat at the podium at Lincoln Financial Field for the first time as a coach with a wide smile on his face. In the aftermath of his Delaware State team beating Norfolk State, which is coached by his old teammate and friend, Michael Vick, on Thursday, Jackson fielded this question:
Why did you choose the HBCU to start your coaching career?
Jackson, 38, said the opportunity presented itself to him, but he also revealed a personal connection to historically Black colleges or universities.
» READ MORE: Boisterous DeSean Jackson gets the best of stoic Michael Vick during ‘surreal’ HBCU showdown at the Linc
“My dad [Bill Jackson] went to an HBCU,” Jackson said after the 27-20 win. “He went to Bethune-Cookman. When I was playing, during that time, I guess I was too big of a player to get looks from HBCUs or for me to look at HBCU. So this opportunity came, and for me, I can’t really pass up this opportunity here for me to inspire and change young kids.”
The former Eagles wide receiver, who said playing for the organization helped him cope with his father’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2009, is engineering the best season at Delaware State since 2012, with another nationally televised game Friday against Morgan State (7 p.m., ESPNU).
The turnaround has been quick for the Hornets, who were 1-11 last season before Jackson took over. But as Jackson described last week, the road to success has been anything but easy.
“I think since Day 1, man, it has been a culture shock, and that was my challenge to these young men … they [were] in some tough games last year, and six games, they [were] up in the fourth quarter, and they end up losing those games,” Jackson said. “You break it down as a player that played at a high level. It’s either your conditioning [or you are] undisciplined. … It was easy for me to identify and to know, ‘This is what you guys needed to change. This is what you guys needed to address.’ And, for me, getting the right players in, being able to embrace the culture, embrace the standard.
“I just gave them the rules, and [said], ‘This is my expectations. And to a man, everybody has to be held to that standard.’ And lately, you see them embracing it. Early on, it was difficult. Discipline was a big factor. Our penalties was a big factor. Unsportsmanlike conduct [penalties]. We were shooting ourselves in the foot.”
‘Stay highly competitive’
While things are going well for Jackson, Vick’s team is 1-8 and will close the season against three opponents with at least three wins. North Carolina Central (6-3) is up next on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
The Spartans, who has lost seven straight games, are living on the margins, Vick said, and it has affected his in-game decision-making. The 45-year-old former Eagles quarterback said, ”whether it’s in special teams, whether it’s defensively, whether it’s offensively, I’ve got to make those decisions and make them with precision."
“It’s times that I want to gamble, it’s times that I want to go for it on fourth down. There’s times that I want to try a fake punt, try a fake field goal, but I can’t give games away,” Vick said after last week’s loss. “I’ve got to keep us in the game. It’s my job to make sure that we stay highly competitive. And every day matters for me, just like it matters for them, because it’s going to serve them well in the future.”
Vick has learned on the fly, and it hasn’t been without hiccups. Last month, he made some changes to the defensive staff amid the team’s 1-6 start. He also has focused on establishing the team’s culture and acknowledged that his evaluation of the program includes the coaches he brought in, too.
“It’s one day at a time. You look at the season, it’s about 90 days, 120 days total with camp, you’ve got to sacrifice a lot within those days,” Vick told The Inquirer last week. “The first year is just about gaining experience, understanding the ‘whys,’ who your players are, who’s dedicated, who’s in, who’s out, players and coaches, which coaches are leading, which coaches are setting examples. It truly [doesn’t] come down to X’s and O’s all the time.
“It’s about creating a culture. … [It’s about] every coach having the same mindset as you, being able to teach like you, being a hard-ass like you, if they know when they have to, and not cutting any corners. I can find any coach to coach football. What coach can I find that’s going to instill discipline? Because if it’s not, it can’t always come from me. It’s got to come from everywhere.”
Appreciation for HBCU culture
Philly native Eddie George, now Bowling Green’s head coach, reveled in the opportunity to walk through Tennessee State’s campus, see the fraternities on the yard, including his own, Omega Psi Phi, and hear the Aristocrat of Bands play during football practice in his four years with the school.
Similarly, Vick, who grew up 30 minutes away from Norfolk State in Newport News, Va., said he “gets excited” hearing the school’s band play during practice and games.
» READ MORE: HBCU excellence was on display Thursday at the Linc, and the stars were out to witness it
“Man, the culture that is being created, the culture that is going to continue to live on with or without you, it’s just a really cool experience, man, and almost always bring back memories to when I played college football,” Vick said. “When I could hear a band playing while we [were] practicing [at Virginia Tech] and then knowing that Saturday was going to be a day full of excitement, full of the passion, the heart that you bring, everything that you put into the game, even at a young age.
“And now getting it at Norfolk State, man, is something that I put myself in my players’ shoes, and almost feel as if they’re so lucky to be in the position that they’re in, and they should always want to take full advantage of every opportunity that’s presented to them.”
Jackson, meanwhile, had ESPN’s First Take on campus last week in the lead-up to the game at the Linc and joined his players celebrating with Delaware State’s band, The Approaching Storm, after last week’s win.
Jackson maintained that the game was “bigger than me and Michael Vick,” and is relishing this chapter of his football career.
“Just really seeing the impact that you have over a community, it’s a culture shock,” Jackson said. “One of my players before the game, Marquis Gillis, told me, ‘Coach, man, it’s bigger than everybody involved.’ He said, ‘Man, this is [for] my kids’ kids, it’s going to go down [in history].’
“Just the impact that you see in these guys’ eyes when they are embracing the coaching, and the standard is just like for me, it feels like all the information I got over all those years, I would be selfish not to put back into these young men and help change their life. So, for me, it’s fulfilling.”
Jackson hopes other recently retired NFL players “get into coaching because, man, just to be able to have your own, university, organization, and be ran with a perspective of, ‘I got my finger on it,’ and I just think it’s a cool thing, man, to be able to be in that position.”
Added Vick: “My goal is to prepare these guys to not be at Norfolk State for three or four years, but to have a great season and move on to a Power [Four] school. That’s how I’m looking at it. Moving forward, that’s going to be the management process with them.”