Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has inspired many former players to pursue coaching careers. He recently spoke with reporters about two more former players, DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick, who were named head coaches in college football.
“Listen, I’m proud of them (DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick). Michael’s – both of them have been kind of into that. DeSean, you know, he came up kind of close where I grew up, and so I know a lot of people that worked with him. His dad was real involved at that time, so I think it’s great to see him have an opportunity to do it.” said Reid. “I knew somewhere that was in his plan. Both of them are very smart, innately very smart, just they’ve been blessed that way. They don’t forget anything; they could handle a game plan like that (snaps), and I think they’ll do great as a head coach. They have good people skills, and recruiting is a big part of that.”
Vick, recently hired as Norfolk State’s head coach, received a congratulatory video message from Reid. DeSean Jackson, the new head coach of Delaware State University, also played under Reid in Philadelphia to start his playing career.
“I’ve been fortunate to stay in touch with both of them (DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick). I’ve had a chance to talk to the people that were hiring them, so it was – they have my full support,” said Reid. “I know they’re going to do great. The university is supporting them right now, which is a beautiful thing. They obviously went in there and impressed them, so that’s about half the battle. This whole recruiting thing, I don’t understand all that, but I know it’ll be a great challenge for all these guys, all these head coaches at the college level.”
Reid could potentially lose some assistant coaches and coordinators this offseason as several NFL head coaching positions have opened up since the end of the regular season.
