DeSean Jackson is bringing new energy to the football program at HBCU Delaware State. His first spring as head coach showed growth and progress. But he’s not doing it alone. He’s leaning on someone who is leaning also—fellow HBCU coach Michael Vick.
“Me and Michael Vick, man, we’re real brothers,” Jackson said. “We have a brotherhood and it’s special.”
Vick is now the head coach at Norfolk State. Both he and Jackson are first-time college head coaches. They are using their NFL bond to support each other as they build their HBCU programs from the ground up.
“We’re faced with some obstacles… being at a HBCU and the resources,” Jackson said. “We’re putting all our resources together.”
That includes thinking big. Jackson wants Delaware State to play a game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“We’re trying any and everything to get that game at Lincoln Financial Stadium,” he said. “It’s a possibility for sure.”
Jackson said Big Dom, his former Eagles security chief, is helping behind the scenes to make it happen. This game wouldn’t just be for show. It would attempt to raise the profile of Delaware State and all of HBCU football, especially in the Philadelphia area.
“If we get to success, then that opens the door for more ex-NFL players to coach,” Jackson said.
Jackson and Michael Vick represent a new era of HBCU leadership—one shaped by professional experience and community roots.
“HBCU, man, is back,” Jackson said. “A lot of schools are doing great things right now.”
Their goal is bigger than the scoreboard, according to Jackson. They want to change lives and shift culture.
“We gotta lean on each other to get to success,” Jackson said.
DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick are two former NFL players now leading HBCU football programs and working to build them.