Vanderbilt Commodores Coach Has Compelling Case for Award Recognition
After leading the team to a paltry 9-27 record across his first three years at the helm, Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea entered 2024 with his job firmly in the hot seat.
Nothing was going right for the coach or the program, which was the status quo, but Lea was brought in to make things different and try and lead the Commodores back to relevancy.
This year, he has done exactly that.
Vandy enters the week with a 6-4 record on the year, bowl eligible for the first time since 2018, and with two games left to play in the regular season.
A recent article from Morgan Moriarty of Bleacher Report made the case for Lea and his chances for the 2024 Coach of the Year Award.
"Lea's team has a chance to finish out the regular season with wins over LSU and Tennessee," writes Moriarty. "If Vanderbilt can win a bowl game, it'll be the first time since 2013, the last time the Commodores finished with a winning season."
James Franklin was the head coach the last time Vanderbilt played to a record above .500, leading the program to consecutive 9-4 years before leaving for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Lea is the second head coach since Franklin's departure, and in the 10 seasons leading into 2024, the team has played to a 36-83 overall record with a 12-69 record in Southeastern Conference play.
Lea led the team out of the gate this year to a 2-0 record, including the first upset victory of the campaign in a 34-27 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The Commodores would drop the next two games of the year, though one would come in their conference opener against the Missouri Tigers, who were ranked seventh at the time, and needed double overtime to win.
The fifth game of the season would prove to be one of the biggest wins in program history, as Vandy would knock off the number one school in the nation at the time, the Alabama Crimson Tide, a program they had not beaten since 1984.
A 3-2 record after the major upset would lead the program to today, with their matchup against the LSU Tigers who have lost their last three games.
It has been a magnificent turnaround of the program in Clark Lea's fourth year at the helm, and it will be interesting to see if he can take home the 2024 Coach of the Year Award for his efforts.
