The guy is redefining the ideal quarterback: Mobile, strong arm, quick release, good size.

Plenty of players have a good understanding of the game. Lots of quarterbacks are mobile. Lots of guys have strong arms. Lots of passers have quick releases. Lots of them have good size.

But Vick doesn't have just one or two or three of those attributes. The SportsLine.com/Lindy's Football preseason offensive player of the year has all of those things ... and more.

"Heck, I don't think there are two of him out there," said Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle. "It's amazing how many high school coaches call me and say, 'Hey, I got a quarterback just like Michael Vick.' I look at that damn film and it ain't nowhere close. They don't know what Michael Vick is about."

Admit it, the story of the Sugar Bowl was not so much Florida State -- the Seminoles were expected to win -- it was about Michael Vick, and the way he worked 'em over.

Hokies fall behind 28-7. Behind Vick's scrambling and throwing, they rally to take a 29-28 lead. Vick doesn't win, Florida State's depth does, 46-29. Florida State won the 1999 national championship and Michael Vick became the front-runner for the 2000 Heisman.

It became apparent quickly that the Hokies had one chance, and it was wrapped in a 6-foot-1, 212-pound package.

Michael Vick is hoping to lead the Hokies back to the national title game.(Allsport)

"He's real," a breathless Florida State safety Sean Key said that night after chasing Vick around.

"It's like trying to keep a 2-year old baby in a crib. That guy is awesome. He's got my vote all the way. He isn't going to be there three more years. He's got the Heisman (this) year. I don't know who else can beat him."

Despite being sacked seven times for minus-48 yards, Vick still rushed for 97 yards. Despite being hounded by the Seminoles defense, he still threw for 225 yards. That's 322 of Virginia Tech's 503 total yards.

"One time," Vick said, recalling a play in the Sugar Bowl, "when I spun around twice and threw the ball out of bounds, I didn't even know what I was doing."

No college quarterback has risen so fast, so soon.

It's a story that goes beyond football. His cult of personality seems to be Vick's destiny.

"He has one of the neatest personalities I've ever seen," Bustle said. "He's got a nice smile, he kind of lights up people around him. Michael Jordan is one of the finest role models in the world but Michael's kind of got a personality that lights people up too."

Guys like Drew Brees might have stats, but Vick has charisma -- the stuff post-football movie careers are made of. Not flashy, even engaging ... just special, that makes people turn and notice.

"I saw him at a grocery store in March or April," assistant sports information director Bryan Johnston said. "He walked 15 steps in the door and was mobbed. He's this huge figure."

At the ESPYs in February, megastars like Mark McGwire and Tiger Woods were seeking out the quarterback from Blacksburg.

"I can't believe," Vick said, "they knew who I was."

Through all the accolades, Michael Dwayne Vick still has to be a sophomore in 2000.

He's got feet that can buckle the knees of any defender and the arm is a blessing from a supreme being, but his judgment is not the best -- yet. Vick cost the Hokies with a couple of costly fumbles in the Sugar Bowl.

He is what he is -- a blossoming high-risk, high-reward talent still with a few warts. But not many. Along with becoming the nation's leader in passing efficiency, he finished 10th in the Big East in rushing.

"Somebody asked me, 'Would you rather play Virginia Tech without Vick or (All-America defensive end) Corey Moore," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "I said Vick. We can double-team Moore. There isn't a darn thing you can do about Vick. I knew he was good but didn't know he was that good."

The mere fact that Vick didn't implode under the bright lights of the Superdome should have been validation enough. Heisman voters had seen enough earlier, placing him third in the final voting. It was believed to be the first time a freshman had been invited to the Downtown Athletic Club.

Yes, Vick did all this as a 19-year-old. Or, if you prefer, about like the Beatles or Springsteen when they hit it big.

How did it all happen? It many ways, Vick's success was calculated. While at Warwick High in Newport News, Va., Vick competed for attention and competed against crosstown rival Ronald Curry. Curry wanted to play basketball as well and went to North Carolina.

Vick was being courted by the likes of Syracuse who saw him as a replacement for Donovan McNabb. When Vick chose Virginia Tech it raised eyebrows. Sure, they had nice special teams and defense, but could Vick make a difference?

It was decided by consensus that Vick would sit his freshman year. Al Clark was a senior quarterback in 1998. It made sense to get Vick's athletics and academics on a safe path before turning him loose on the country.

He traveled with the team to every away game, learning the routine so that nothing would be a surprise when it was his time to play. After games, Bustle would ask his young star, "What did you learn tonight?"

Vick's high school coach Tommy Reamon was instrumental in preparing his former star for what was to come.

"People have been in awe of Michael not playing his first year but I say, 'Do you remember when you were a freshman?" Reamon said. "Now you're going to tell me how you want my child to be a quarterback in a million-dollar business and put that pressure on him when I know him better than you. Tech was excellent on how they began to develop him."

It started quietly against James Madison in the opener. Vick ran for three touchdowns against the Dukes before leaving with an ankle injury sustained when he scored a touchdown on a forward flip over a defensive player -- not a showboat move, just the best way to get into the end zone.

He took the next week off against Alabama-Birmingham before returning, hobbled, against Clemson.

Vick threw three interceptions and was overshadowed by an aggressive defense. The next week Virginia didn't know what hit it. Vick, playing in his first road game, completed 7 of 9 passes for 222 yards. That's 24.6 yards per pass. In the first quarter, he threw a 60-yard scoring pass to Andre Davis and a 31-7 rout was under way.

Victory No. 5 barely registered nationally. Virginia Tech beat Rutgers 58-20 with Vick completing 11 of 12 for 248 yards. However, the nation was shocked the next week when Syracuse went to Blacksburg. The Hokies showed they were something special that night with a 62-0 victory.

That's about the time the national debate began about Virginia Tech's worthiness as a national champion.

"He's the best I've ever seen," Virginia Tech running backs coach Billy Hite said. "I made the statement a year ago. Syracuse is getting ready to find out how we felt the last four years (facing McNabb). I think right now he's better than what happened at Syracuse."

On Nov. 6 at West Virginia, it became apparent that the Hokies were destined to go undefeated. Vick's amazing 26-yard scramble set up the game-winning field goal -- you saw it on all the highlights: just as he seemed to be going out of bounds to stop the clock, he jetted up the sideline, past, over and around potential tacklers -- and has been memorialized as the cornerstone to an 11-0 season.

As he progresses through his career, there are two things to understand about Vick -- The Flick and Reamon.

The flick is the seemingly effortless way that Vick throws. Flat-footed 50-yard spirals are the norm. It goes against the usual mechanics of a quarterback but it works.

"The first time I saw him was the 10th or 11th grade," Bustle said. "When I looked at film I saw an incredible young athlete. He can flick that ball. Sometimes you can't tell a guy's arm strength but he had such a little flick, the ball would really move on film.

"It's a flick. It doesn't matter which way his feet are going. He goes against all my teaching tapes. It's really uncanny to me. I've got guys I coached who are in the NFL and never had one who could flick like he does."

Last year the left-hander completed 59.2 percent of his passes, throwing only 15 times per game. That figures to change this season.

"More formations, more offensive plays," Vick promised, "We'll open it up."

Reamon was Vick's high school coach and still is his mentor. The former Missouri running back has played in the NFL, World Football League and even had a part in the movie "North Dallas Forty."

"What you saw is what I've seen all through high school," Reamon said. "You can come in and watch film and say, 'I'll be damned.' In high school, we weren't that good on the offensive line. He was running for his life. We taught him well how to run for his life."

Reamon unabashedly gives himself credit for guiding Vick.

Vick's mother Brenda Boddie is proud but his father is not in the picture right now. Michael needed guidance.

"You wouldn't ask Peyton Manning how he was put together and developed because you would instantly know his background with Archie Manning," Reamon said. "Michael Vick's background is me, fully loaded with experience. From Missouri, to the World Football League to the movie industry, the whole works."

Reamon traces his mentoring skills back to college where Missouri assistant coach Prentice Gautt took him under his wing. Gautt had been the first African-American player at Oklahoma in the 1950s and had gone on to play in the NFL. He currently runs the life skills program for the Big 12 Conference.

"He saved me a lot," Reamon said. "Before I knew what a psychiatrist was, he was one to me. His history of being the first black at Oklahoma was tremendous."

On the night of the Sugar Bowl, Vick called Reamon two hours before game time. He just wanted to say thanks. He was nervous. He wanted a pep talk. Reamon told Vick to calm down, the first quarter would be tremendously emotional.

Vick did as he was told, calmly leading the Hokies down the field on a 76-yard drive. Then Beamer decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1. A Florida State defender burst through the line and slapped the ball out of Vick's hand.

The fumble was only his sixth of the year. The kid would still be great that night, just not perfect. There's plenty of time for that.

"I plan to come back an even better player, even better quarterback, mentally and physically," Vick said. "Expect a lot from me."

Oh yeah. We're counting on it.

Lindy's Football Annuals (National, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, plus Pro) are available at newsstands regionally, or can be ordered as a set at www.lindyssports.com, or by calling 1-205-871-1182.