NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There is a different feel around Clark Lea’s fifth fall camp as Vanderbilt football coach. The Commodores are coming off their first winning season in a dozen years and are looking to achieve even more this season.
Lea had a difficult building process when taking over his alma mater after Vandy went winless during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. He had to change the culture, oversee the building of critical football facility infrastructure, and, maybe even more importantly, instill a belief that his program could compete with the SEC’s best. Now he has a team that knows it can win, and Lea is doing everything he can to coach them into the best position possible to do just that.
“The first four years we were tearing down more stuff than we were building,” Lea said after Monday’s practice. “We were tearing down, trying to excavate and make room for a foundation, and I think we finally have that in place. Every team, every season, you have to build. This team has to make a decision about what it wants its legacy to be, what it wants its attitude and identity to be. I think we’re still forming that right now.”
The offense will be spearheaded by dynamic, dual-threat quarterback Diego Pavia. The New Mexico State transfer made a splash last season, leading Vandy to several key wins, including its historic upset over No. 1 Alabama.
Tight end Eli Stowers transferred with Pavia to Vanderbilt ahead of last season. Stowers had an All-SEC season but passed on the NFL Draft in order to come back and play for the Commodores again this season.
“Really, I just had a lot of faith in what this team can be,” Stowers told Newschannel 5’s Steve Layman. “I trusted the coaches. Coach Lea, Coach Kill, Coach Beck, all the coaches on the coaching staff. They have such good character and can lead us to where we want to go. I prayed on it a lot and really considered both options for a while, and I just felt like it was better for me and the team for me to come back and just be able to work towards going to work to get a national championship this year and potentially me boosting my draft stock as well.”
The team’s second leading receiver, Junior Sherrill, also returns this season. The Lipscomb Academy product had a catch in every game last season and will be joined outside by another former New Mexico State Aggie. Pavia and Stowers’ former teammate Trent Hudson comes to Nashville after playing last season at Mississippi State and should provide another trusted weapon.
Sedrick Alexander will again be the lead back in a rushing attack that figures to take a step forward behind a remade offensive line.
“We have tools to be a team to put points on the board,” Lea said. “We still want to be a game control offense. We still want to end drives with touchdowns. We want to establish a physical running game. What I want to see is more explosive plays coming out of that because we got some good players on the perimeter and obviously Diego makes it all go.”
Vanderbilt will return eight starters on defense, including senior linebacker Langston Patterson. One of the team’s top tacklers, the Nashville native wants the defense to set the tone for the Commodores this fall.
“Something we talk about every day is total effort,” Patterson said. “We want people to watch us and have to turn off the TV it’s so violent, you know. We’re just out there running around lack a pack of animals. So that’s just something that we’re going to have to bring every day to practice.”
Vandy was picked 13th in the SEC preseason poll, but did receive multiple votes to win the conference championship. Internally, the program believes it is capable of taking another giant leap forward.
Last season, Vanderbilt went 7-6 but lost four games by a touchdown or less, including a stunning loss at Georgia State and a heartbreaker at Missouri. If it can do the little things better that make a difference in those close games, Vandy believes it can compete for a SEC crown, a playoff berth, and the ultimate goal of a national championship this year.
That may seem far-fetched to those on the outside of the program, but not to the players who have seen the growth of this program.
“I don’t care if anyone else believes it,” Patterson said. “We’re not doing it as like an attention grabber, you know. People ask, and that’s just what we believe because if you’re not stepping out there every day believing that you’re going to win, why are you even playing? It’s just the mentality of, like, we’re not going to lose a rep, we’re not going to lose a game, and we are going to push ourselves as hard as we can until we can’t no more.”
The buzz around the program is new and energizing, but Lea also knows it will not count for a single point or a single tackle when they kick off the season Aug. 30 against Charleston Southern.
That’s why he’s urging his team to chart its own course, urging them to make the most of each day so they can make the most of this season.
“I love the energy that surrounds our program right now,” Lea said. “What I’m focused on is what our internal investment is, what our internal attitude is, because ultimately our job is to hang on to that external energy only by the product we put on the field and how we inspire people to come join us.”
