There’s no question Vanderbilt is up against it in the SEC and anonymous opposing coaches were pretty blunt about the state of the program.
Clark Lea, the Commodores’ head coach, is respected in coaching circles. But it certainly seems like he has an impossible task.
Since coming over from Notre Dame, Lea is 9-27 in three seasons, with two 2-win campaigns.
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“I hear nothing but good things about Clark Lea,” one anonymous coach said. “But you could have Knute Rockne and The Gipper and everybody else and it would be remarkable if they won six games. It’s such a difficult job. They’ve never really put resources in the football program. They are renovating the stadium.
“But a building by itself don’t get it done in football. You’ve got to have people and resources.”
James Franklin, you know, the Penn State head coach? When he was at Vanderbilt, there was a buzz around the program.
In fact, he performed quite well. So well, that his job at Vanderbilt might be more impressive than what he’s done with the Nittany Lions.
“There’s only one guy in my lifetime that’s done a great job at Vanderbilt, and that’s James Franklin,” another coach said. “The job he did at Vanderbilt is better than his body of work at Penn State – and he’s done a great job at Penn State.”
The biggest problem with Vanderbilt? It’s the depth around the entire team. There seemed to be hope with the 5-7 team in 2022, but it quickly fell apart last fall.
Without the influx of talent of other SEC schools and falling behind in the arms race, Vanderbilt is stuck in a hole.
“They get good players in spots, but you’ve got to have about 18 on offense and 18 on defense to have a solid team, and they’ve got about 8-12 total,” a third coach said of the program.
Does a new football stadium bode well for Vanderbilt? Yeah, it’ll look nice. But not as nice if the program were to actually win more games.
Vanderbilt last made a bowl game in 2018 but hasn’t won one since 2013, when the team was 9-4. The ‘13 campaign was the last winning season for the program, so it’s been a decade of struggles.
In fact, since the 1890 season, the first in program history, Vanderbilt has never won double digit games in a season. If there are more resources poured into this SEC program, will it lead to something like that?
Maybe, maybe not. But it’d be one heck of a start in a positive direction as these coaches alluded to.
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