Vanderbilt's new football coach is an alum and the Notre Dame DC Clark Lea

[jbcarol]

Everything Clark Lea said from the podium at SEC Media Days
Paul Harvey | 1 MINUTE AGO

Lea is looking to keep Vanderbilt's turnaround rolling in 2023 after strong strides a season ago.

On Tuesday, he took his turn at the podium:

"...A year ago we were hard at work on the foundational identity of our program, while also searching for on-field progress. This led to inconsistent play and plenty of challenging moments.

The adversity we faced strengthened our resolve and helped to refine our process, giving way to an evolved team that was able to find flashes of success.

Though we can celebrate progress, we will never be satisfied with 5-7. Vanderbilt football pursues success at the highest level, and we will not back down from our mission to build the best college football program in the nation...."

[jbcarol]

Vanderbilt football picked seventh in SEC East, receives eight first-place votes (sic)

Aria Gerson

Vanderbilt football was picked to finish last in the SEC East, the league announced Friday. The Commodores did receive eight first-place votes in the division and five votes to win the league.

The Commodores have been picked last each of Clark Lea's three seasons, but this year there is an expectation that they will be more competitive after finishing 5-7 and winning two SEC games a year ago.

Vanderbilt also has a relatively favorable schedule. The Commodores have home games against Kentucky, Missouri and Auburn, who were all picked in the bottom half of the league.

The road schedule is more difficult with games against Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee and South Carolina.

[jbcarol]

Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸@BarrettSallee
·
Vanderbilt has named Auburn as its homecoming opponent.
7:05 PM · Jul 25, 2023

[jbcarol]

VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt Crystal Ball: Predicting every game for 2023
Connor O'Gara

Week 2: at Wake Forest (W)
Without Sam Hartman and AT Perry, Wake Forest's offense takes a step back.

Week 3: at UNLV (W)
Vanderbilt catches UNLV at an ideal time. After getting bullied by Michigan in Ann Arbor, home cooking is nowhere to be found for Barry Odom...

Week 8: (Idle)
Week 9: at Ole Miss (W)
Remember last year when Vandy had a 10-point lead with a minute left in the first half? That wasn't a fluke. Granted, neither was Ole Miss scoring 35 points to erase that deficit ...

2023 projection: 5-7
#AnchorDown

[jbcarol]

Lea clears up an uncommon misconception about Davis:

Clark Lea says Daevion Davis is out indefinitely, not medically retired

During Vanderbilt's win over Alabama A&M, Davis was seen with a playsheet, leading to concerns that he had medically retired. However, Lea says that isn't the case.

"I don't want to go there," Clark Lea said. "I think out indefinitely and being conscious of the fact that there's no rush for him to get back right now."

As a senior in 2022, Daevion Davis only played in one game due to injury, against the Florida Gators. In that one game, he only had three defensive snaps. It's that same injury, a torn ACL, that is hampering him from playing now.

"And what we love about Daevion is, though he's not out there on the field, anyone who knows him knows how important football is to him. This guy is finding a way to contribute to our program because he's been a great leader for us. I love having him out there, love having his spirit and energy, and obviously wanting what's best for him physically and physically long term, too," Lea said.

"So, we'll keep going with that, but that's out indefinitely and I'll let you know if there's any further update on him."

Lea explained the slow start and turnaround vs. Alabama A&M
After Hawaii played Vanderbilt tough in Week 0, the Commodores welcomed Alabama A&M into town for Week 1. For the first half of that game, the Bulldogs also played the Commodores tough. It was a slow start for Vanderbilt, though Clark Lead did get his team going in the second half to pull away.

"Yeah. I actually felt defensively, outside that first drive where we were taking on so much water, I thought we played well," Lea said. "We made the adjustments and got stopped. Offensively (we) got careless with the ball on the interception. And too many third downs on offense. I mean, we gotta convert on first and second down. I thought we got some rhythm here in the third quarter offensively. Disappointed in the big play on defense. But it looks like we're back in that rhythm defensively. So, we gotta finish this thing out."

[jbcarol]

Clark Lea shares injury status of AJ Swann

Vanderbilt quarterback AJ Swann is dealing with an injury ahead of the Commodores' Week 5 matchup against No. 23 Missouri. Swann exited late in Saturday's 45-28 loss to Kentucky after struggling in the contest to go 16-of-40 passing for 189 yards and three interceptions.

Coach Clark Lea addressed the injury:

"It's still the elbow contusion from last week," Lea said. "He battled it this week. He was able to return to the game last week and finish. ...I just never saw him playing with confidence today. It felt like, offensively, we were playing from our heels a little bit. When it came down to the end, I just didn't feel like he could play moving forward."

Ken Seals entered the game at quarterback for the final drive of the game after Swann threw a pick six. He led the Commodores to a touchdown, completing 4-of-7 passes for 42 yards.

Lea liked the way the offense responded when Seals took over...

[jbcarol]

Clark Lea praises QB Ken Seals for giving Vanderbilt 'a chance to punt'

Ethan Stone | 3 minutes ago

Commodores fell to South Carolina Saturday. 47-6.

Gamecocks, one of (our lesser lights), controlled this one from start to finish.

And after the game, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea addressed reporters and appeared to praise Ken Seals' ability to protect the ball to give Vanderbilt " a chance to punt."


Follow Aria Gerson
@aria_gerson
·

Lea said on Ken Seals that, "I appreciate the fact that when he was in there, he took care of the ball and gave us a chance to punt."

Is...the objective here to score points, or to have zero turnovers?
4:15 PM · Nov 11, 2023

[jbcarol]

First and 10: It's time to tell the truth about every SEC team
Matt Hayes | 

Vanderbilt must do something different.

More than likely, Vanderbilt will stick with Clark Lea, who has done just about everything right — except win.

But when the Lea experiment is complete — and it will be eventually — Vanderbilt must do something unique to stand out.

You want unique: Go hire Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. He runs the Ole Miss offense, and is an elite recruiter.

Who cares if he's 30? Vandy has tried just about everything to win games, why not go out of the box and hire a guy that, at the very least, will make it interesting.

[jbcarol]

Coordinator turnover at Vandy

Vanderbilt football demotes defensive coordinator Nick Howell, shakes up staff

The Commodores are making a major change to their coaching staff.

By Robbie Weinstein

Vanderbilt football announced Wednesday it has demoted defensive coordinator and safeties coach Nick Howell, as first reported by 247Sports. The Commodores ranked among the Power Five's worst defenses by most statistical measures over Howell's two-season tenure, finishing last among SEC teams in points and yards allowed per game this fall. Howell will stay on staff as a position coach for the immediate future. Head coach Clark Lea will take over as defensive coordinator for the 2024 season.

In addition, defensive backs coach Dan Jackson — who coached Vanderbilt's cornerbacks — has been demoted to an off-field role a source told 247Sports. Defensive quality control coach Jamaal Richardson will take over for Jackson. On the other side of the ball, Vanderbilt also fired offensive coordinator Joey Lynch.

"We had a season where our results and performance fell short of our expectations," Lea said in a statement. "When that is the case, change is necessary. My background as a defensive coordinator will allow me to best serve our team by taking on that responsibility."

Issues began early in Howell's tenure, as Lea moved him from the sideline to the press box during Howell's first season as Vanderbilt's defense struggled.

Vanderbilt football fires offensive coordinator Joey Lynch

The Commodores will change offensive play callers heading into the 2024 season.

By Robbie Weinstein

Vanderbilt football announced Wednesday that it fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch, as first reported by 247Sports. The Commodores struggled on offense this year while sophomore quarterback AJ Swann regressed from 2022, raising questions about the program's direction on offense and at signal-caller moving forward. Swann and veteran backup Ken Seals both announced their intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal this week.

"We had a season where our results and performance fell short of our expectations," said Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea in a statement. "When that is the case, change is necessary."

"I'd like to thank Joey for his three years of dedication to our program," Lea added. "I wish him all the best in the future."

[jbcarol]

Vanderbilt expected to hire former New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill

by:
Kaiden Smith
•

Kill is expected to assume an off-the-field role for Vanderbilt, working alongside head coach Clark Lea and newly hired offensive coordinator Tim Beck.

Kill spent last season as the head coach of New Mexico State, leading the Aggies to a 10-5 record, a Conference USA Championship appearance, and a bowl game appearance in his lone season with the program before stepping down. But the 62-year-old will bring over 20 years of head coaching experience at the college level with him to Vanderbilt.

This story will be further updated momentarily

[jbcarol]

Wisconsin formally names Vanderbilt OL coach AJ Blazek to same position with Badgers

by:
Nick Kosko
•

Wisconsin named AJ Blazek as the team's new offensive line coach under Luke Fickell. Blazek was most recently in the same position at Vanderbilt.

In three years, Blazek coached up Vanderbilt's offensive line yet he has B1G ties.

[jbcarol]

Jerry Kill added to SEC coaching staff for 2024 season
Paul Harvey | 6 minutes ago

Welcome to the 6⃣1⃣5⃣

Jerry Kill is coming to the SEC in a special role after resigning from his head coaching post at New Mexico State.

Kill, a veteran coach with a career dating back to the 1980s, has a number of head coaching stops in his tenure. Most recently, he led New Mexico State to a 17-11 record in two seasons before stepping down.

Now, he'll join Clark Lea's Vanderbilt staff as a chief consultant to the head coach and a senior offensive advisor:

"I'm excited to welcome Coach Kill to Vanderbilt," Lea said. "He is a proven builder of strong, winning cultures. His leadership and experience will be tremendous assets as we build Vanderbilt football into the dominant program we all expect it to be."

[jbcarol]

Vanderbilt running back Deago Benson enters NCAA transfer portal

by: Riley Gates
•

Vanderbilt running back Deago Benson has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, per On3's Pete Nakos

This is a developing story that On3 will have more on shortly