2024 SEC Media Days: Spotlight on the Vanderbilt Commodores

The last man standing at the podium on Monday at the 2024 SEC Media Days was Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea.

Lea is going into his fourth season with the Commodores and has introduced significant changes to his football program.

2024 SEC Media Days

Coaching the Defense

Lea will oversee the Vanderbilt defense in 2024. That is something in his wheelhouse. He was linebackers coach and later defensive coordinator at Notre Dame under coach Brian Kelly from 2018-2020.  

During Lea’s stay at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish ranked among the top 15 teams in the country in many defensive categories. They included scoring defense, pass defense, turnover margin and opponent's red-zone percentage.

Vandy was ranked dead last in the Southeastern Conference in total defense, passing defense, rushing defense and scoring defense. So, change is warranted. And kudos to Lea for recognizing that fact and making moves to improve his team.

Anchor Strong

Another change coming to the Commodores is their approach to strength and conditioning. Lea hired Robert Stiner as director of sports performance. Stiner manned similar posts at Georgia Southern, USC and Notre Dame during Lea’s tenure there.

During that period, Notre Dame posted a 33-5 record and made 2 College Football Playoff appearances. In addition, the Fighting Irish's draft-eligible players performed extremely well at the NFL Combine, recording the top results in many drills.

A New Offense

In 2023 in the SEC, Vanderbilt was at the bottom of the barrel in many offensive categories as well. To change that, Lea hired Tim Beck of New Mexico State as his new offensive coordinator. Beck led NMSU to top 15 national rankings in total offense, rushing offense and rushing yards gained. In addition, Lea hired former New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill as a special consultant who will have on-field coaching access. In addition, former NMSU quarterback Diego Pavia has transferred in, too. Pavia was a second-team All-CUSA selection in 2023.

2024 Projections

The Vanderbilt Commodores are projected to win just 4 games in 2024. In 2023, Vanderbilt posted a 2-10 record and was winless in the SEC. Here is another change that Vandy fans need to see. Two of Lea’s seasons resulted in 0 conference wins. The ‘Dores need to win an SEC game or 2, or 3, or more. That would be the biggest change of all in 2024. The 2024 SEC Media Days was the platform to announce these changes to the college football world. Lea is determined to do just that.