Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea embracing new role, clean slate

Vanderbilt is confident that better days are ahead after failing to win a single Southeastern Conference game for the third time in four seasons. The Commodores went 0-8 in SEC play last season, finishing with the same record during the 2021 campaign after an 0-9 showing a year earlier. They went 2-6 in league play in 2022. Defense was what held Vanderbilt back the most, with the Commodores allowing the fifth-most points per game (36.2) among 130 qualifying FBS teams. Vanderbilt held an opponent under 28 points just once, and that opponent was Alabama A&M, an FCS program. But Commodores coach Clark Lea will also be taking on defensive coordinating duties this season, and his players believe it's a move that will fix a lot of Vanderbilt's problems on that side of the ball. "He's been a top three defensive coordinator since he was at Notre Dame, and he's one of the big reasons that I stayed at Vanderbilt, just being able to play for him and his defense," Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson said Monday at the SEC Media Days event in Dallas. "He's really detailed it down and tightened up our structure into something that's awesome to play for. He puts emphasis on effort and he always says it's 50 percent what you do, 50 percent how you do it. ... He's going to put in a great plan and prep for the game super well. It's our job to go execute it." And Vanderbilt certainly isn't letting its past struggles seep into 2024. "I say the mindset is go (into the season) with a chip on your shoulder," Commodores safety CJ Taylor said. "Obviously I know that we've improved. That's for us to put on display when we play Virginia Tech (in the season opener)." Lea also has full faith in his group, telling reporters back in spring that he is having the most fun he's ever had coaching. "I think specifically it's speaking to just being able to reconnect with the passion I have for teaching and coaching. I'm a teacher first, competitor second," Lea said Monday. "So feeling like I have direct responsibilities over the play and the performance on the field, building trust with players through teaching them and helping them to play the game at a higher level. All those things are energizing to me. "I also feel very positively about the resilience we demonstrated in a tough December after a tough season. The idea that we're able to bolster our roster and to do things to build competition on our team, those are things as a competitor that excite me, too." Lea and the Commodores will start their revenge tour with a home game against the Hokies on Aug. 31. They open the SEC portion of the schedule on Sept. 21, traveling to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri. --Field Level Media