Michael Vick isn’t interested in letting Norfolk State’s past define its future. After last season’s 1-11 record, the Spartans’ head coach is making one thing clear: his team has a chance to change the narrative. They are warming up to face South Carolina State, who left them with a deep scar in the homecoming game last year. With a rematch on the horizon, Vick is setting high expectations for his locker room.

“We know that we’re up against the giant of the conference; we know they’ve run this conference for years on end,” Vick told the media on October 20. “But everything is subject to change. And just because that has been in the past doesn’t mean it can’t be a thing of the present. We control our destiny. We control what we do.”

Michael Vick is in his second season with the Spartans after a rocky debut. In the 2025 campaign, Norfolk State finished with a 1-11 record. However, the NFL legend has managed to turn things around. The Spartans are currently 4-3.

Coming out of the bye week and an impressive 62-0 shutout victory against Virginia University, the Spartans will start their MEAC conference matchups. Their opening game is against one of the most dominant programs in the conference, SC State. The Bulldogs are defending their Championship title for the 2nd consecutive year.

The last time the two met, SC State defeated the Spartans 51-20 on the latter’s home turf. Their QB, William Atkins IV, threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns. It was a brutal shock for the first-year head coach, who wanted a quick turnaround like Deion Sanders did at Jackson State. Even though they lost the 2025 matchup, Vick is looking forward to the redemption game.

“I’m excited by the fact that we get to line up and face them, just like we did last year, when they came into our house, and they beat us by 30. So, we got an opportunity to go down there, in front of their crowd, and try to spoil their homecoming, just like they spoiled ours,” Vick said.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat that. That’s the fun part about this game. That’s the competitive part that I love, and I hope that our players love it. And by the time we get to Saturday, they’ll be marveling at the fact that we got a chance to do that.”

South Carolina State is currently 5-2. Atkins is no longer there, and Simon Lopez is their signal-caller for the 2026 campaign. Norfolk State ranks second in the MEAC in both total offense and total defense. The team averages 214 rushing yards per game, which ranks ninth nationally. Norfolk State leads the country with 11 interceptions.

Vick decided to make a quarterback change ahead of the team’s conference games, so now the Spartan offense will be led by freshman Da’Jean Golmond instead of Deljay Bailey. The latter had been recovering from a shoulder injury. He returned to play in Norfolk State’s 62–0 victory over Virginia University. After evaluating both quarterbacks, Vick felt Golmond had performed better recently and had quite a bit of momentum.

“I’m going to go with Da’Jean since he’s been playing well,” Vick said. “I don’t think it’s fair to him, the way he’s been playing, to take him out of the running right now.”

Golmond has completed 61 of 96 passes for 774 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception this season. He has also rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

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