Clark Lea, Brian Kelly Speak on Coaching Ties Before SEC Showdown
When the Vanderbilt travels to Baton Rouge to face off against the LSU Tigers this Saturday, the game will have special significance for Commodores head coach Clark Lea.
He’ll square off against his former mentor, Tigers head coach Brian Kelly, marking the first time the two will face each other as head coaches.
Lea, who served as Kelly’s linebackers coach and later defensive coordinator at Notre Dame from 2017 to 2020, credits his former boss for shaping his coaching philosophy.
"When I went through the process of interviewing for head coaching jobs, I mean, there's so many coaches that get protective, that get defensive, that want to tell you why you shouldn't do it," Lea said to The Tennessean. "And he couldn't have been more supportive to that process."
This mentorship has left a lasting impact on Lea.
He recalls how Kelly rebounded from a challenging 4-8 season at Notre Dame in 2016, an experience that influenced Lea’s approach when Vanderbilt struggled last season.
"I got to Notre Dame in 2017," he said. "They had just come off a 4-8 season, where he really had to step back and adjust course. So I wasn't a part of that process. I was maybe there because of that process, but I saw someone who was learning and growing even as he had been a successful coach for a long time. That left an incredible mark on me."
Kelly, now in his third season at LSU, spoke highly of Lea and the turnaround he’s engineering at Vanderbilt.
“Clark is extremely locked into what his process is. He’s stayed steadfast with that even through some of the rougher years, and that’s why they’re on the other side of this.” Kelly said. “That’s the way he ran everything. All of our meetings were in lockstep. Everything that we did was a consensus, which I’m certain he’s getting that same consensus within his program at Vanderbilt.”
Vanderbilt’s breakout season, which includes wins over Alabama and Auburn, mirrors some of Lea’s growth under Kelly.
A win against LSU would also be a measure of redemption after Kelly’s other protégé, Mike Elko, handed LSU a loss earlier this year with Texas A&M.
The game will also test LSU’s ability to stop Vanderbilt’s dynamic quarterback Diego Pavia, whom Kelly compared to the option-heavy attacks he faced against Navy at Notre Dame.
“You’ve got to defend the running game,” he said. “It’s really a triple option in a lot of ways.”
With both teams sitting at 6-4, Lea will hope his familiarity with Kelly’s strategies will give him the edge to continue Vanderbilt’s resurgence.
