No Vanderbilt Commodores Coaches Listed As Candidates for UCF Opening
Vanderbilt ended their regular season by losing three straight games, but that still doesn't take away from what they were able to accomplish this year.
The Commodores will be playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2018 after they won six games, and based on how they performed against some of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference, it seems like this program is on the right path.
While it looked like they ran out of steam in the finale against their rivals Tennessee despite coming in confident, what Clark Lea continues to do in Nashville has been impressive.
For Vanderbilt to keep things rolling, though, they'll have their hands full.
Star quarterback Diego Pavia will likely be gone after the season barring a legal win against the NCAA, so the coaching staff will be tasked with replacing him and keeping the momentum going so they don't suffer a fall off like they had previously when they won five games and followed it up with two wins.
One thing that would be tough to overcome is if members of the coaching staff get plucked away.
So far, they have flown under the radar despite a clear improvement on both sides of the ball, but now that Gus Malzahn stepped down from the head coaching position at UCF to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State, some dominoes will begin to fall.
When taking a look at potential candidates to replace Malzahn, Andy Staples of On3 didn't list a single member of Vanderbilt's coaching staff, a good sign for the Commodore faithful that Lea will have an offseason to build upon what they accomplished this year.
Continuity should allow for continued recruiting prowess and sustained success on offense and defense with the gameplans and philosophies staying the same.
However, just because no Vanderbilt coaches were listed for this opening doesn't mean something couldn't come down the line later.
If one of the top head coaches from the Group of 5 level is hired by UCF, then that creates a ripple effect that could eventually pry someone out of Nashville into a new opportunity.
It will be interesting to see how this offseason unfolds.
Hopefully for Lea and Vanderbilt, he's able to keep his staff together heading into 2025.
