Former Notre Dame assistant voted top coach in the best conference in all of College Football
What a season it has been for Vanderbilt football and their head coach Clark Lea. During Coach Lea’s fourth season with the Commodores this fall, he was able to help them then earn their first bowl appearance since 2018. Amongst that 6-6 overall record, Vanderbilt was able to capture a 40-35 victory over Alabama. Vanderbilt […]
What a season it has been for Vanderbilt football and their head coach Clark Lea. During Coach Lea’s fourth season with the Commodores this fall, he was able to help them then earn their first bowl appearance since 2018. Amongst that 6-6 overall record, Vanderbilt was able to capture a 40-35 victory over Alabama.
Vanderbilt also had close losses to Texas, LSU, and Missouri. They were able to defeat Virginia Tech and Auburn on the season as well. This was largely the most competitive Vanderbilt squad we have seen in several years, which was a surprise based on preseason expectations.
With his team’s performance against a very difficult schedule, Coach Lea was recognized for his efforts on Wednesday. He was selected as the SEC Coach of the Year, incredibly impressive when you consider that the SEC is widely considered the best conference in all of college football.
Coach Lea was a graduate of Vanderbilt, and holding this job position means a lot to him. Before he took over prior to the 2021 season, he had served as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame for three seasons. In 2017, Coach Lea was the linebacker coach before being promoted when Mike Elko left for Texas A&M.
Lea began his coaching career at UCLA as a graduate assistant in 2007. Since then, he has had stops with the Bruins, South Dakota State, Bowling Green, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Fighting Irish, and now the Commodores. Coach Lea has spent most of his time as a coordinator, as well as coaching linebackers.
Seeing his ascension as a coach has been remarkable. Vanderbilt is an extremely difficult job, but clearly Lea has it growing in a tremendous direction.
