On Monday afternoon, ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported college football news, divulging that Sacramento State is in discussions to hire four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick as its new head coach. Vick, who currently serves as an analyst on FOX NFL Kickoff and has worked with FOX Sports since 2017, would reportedly be joining the program as it plans to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision. The university is building a new football stadium and is said to have more than $50 million in funding for name, image and likeness (NIL), something that could potentially assist in recruiting.
The monetary figure caused several reporters to raise objections, including Stewart Mandel, the editor-in-chief for college football coverage at The Athletic. Mandel shared on X that the institution “does not have anything close to $50 million” in NIL money, adding that it would be two-and-a-half times more than the Ohio State roster. Mandel also stated that the $50 million figure likely referenced fundraising commitments over the next decade coming from a group that hopes to align the team with a potential move to the Pac-12.
Later in the day, Joe Davidson of The Sacramento Bee stated that several athletic department officials disputed Schefter’s reporting. Schefter published a quote from Sacramento State president Luke Wood where he stated that Vick has expressed interest in the head coaching job and that he has met with him.
Doug Gottlieb, afternoon host on FOX Sports Radio and head men’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, replied to Schefter by articulating to edit what agents tell him. Gottlieb also conveyed that there is no chance the school has $50 million in NIL money. Schefter replied by claiming that the SAC-12 had already announced it had reached an initial goal of raising $50 million in NIL funds. This would presumably augment the potential to receive an invitation and join either the Pac-12 or Mountain West conferences. Sacramento State has been a member of the Big Sky Conference since 1993.
In a subsequent post, Schefter took a screenshot of the Horizon League men’s basketball standings and pointed out that Gottlieb’s team was in last place and on a seven-game losing streak. Within his post on X, he questioned what was taking place and suggested to Gottlieb that he spend “[l]ess time on social media and more time in the gym.”
While Gottlieb did not reply directly to Schefter’s second post, he reposted a tweet from Kevin Van Valkenburg, editorial director of No Laying Up, that disputed the $50 million in NIL money. Van Valkenburg, formerly a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, claimed that he was friends with the former head coach at Sacramento State and disclosed that “they do not even have $1 million in NIL money, much less $50 million. A report from David Teel and Michael Sauls of The Virginian-Pilot on Monday stated that Vick has interviewed for the head coaching job at Norfolk State University and expects a resolution “soon.”
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