Former NFL quarterback Mike Vick is also the former offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Legends of the Alliance of American Football. But he still has an affiliation with the AAF.
"[H]is role is going to change,” AAF director of football strategy Jeff Fisher said Saturday, via ESPN.com. “You can appreciate the difficulty from a place he was put into [after the sudden resignation of Atlanta coach Brad Childress]. His role is going to change and we spoke to Mike over the past couple days and he’s going to move over and assume a league role along with Hines Ward in player development. That’s the best place for him.”
It probably was the best place for Vick from the get go. Vick has admitted to having poor work habits during his playing career, relying on God-given ability over grinding it out in the film room. Given the non-stop grind that good coaching requires, Vick would seemingly have a difficult time making that transition.
Fisher still hasn’t ruled out an eventual coaching role for Vick.
“Mike and I both agreed in a conversation last night that let’s just take a deep breath and let’s kind of embrace the league, embrace the experience and we’ll see where the coaching opportunities are down the road,” Fisher said.
It’s not a good sign that Vick didn’t embrace the league on its opening night, passing on personally attending either of the two debut games. At some point, the upstart league -- which surely relishes having recognizable names associated with it -- will need to ask the hard question of whether Vick is truly committed to the new venture.
