Vanderbilt Commodores Miss Out on Three-Star Defensive End High School Recruit
The Vanderbilt Commodores completed their best college football season in over a decade with a victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Birmingham Bowl, winning 35-27.
It is the first time since the 2013 campaign - the last year James Franklin was the head coach before taking the Penn State Nittany Lions job - that the Commodores have finished above the .500 mark.
They went 7-6, which included their first victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in 40 years.
Head coach Clark Lea did a great job of overhauling the roster heading into the 2024 campaign and has a strong group of freshmen coming in ahead of 2025.
Safety Carson Lawrence is the highest-rated player of the group, a three-star in-state product out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He received a grade of 78, which was tied with linebacker Austin Howard and wide receiver Cameran Dickson as the highest on the team.
The Commodores just missed out on adding another three-star player with a 78 overall grade; defensive end Sam Hayward.
The Providence School of Jacksonville product spurned Vanderbilt, instead opting to commit to the Army West Point Black Knights as part of their 2025 recruiting class. He now becomes their highest-ranked recruit after head coach Jeff Monken led them to 12 victories, the most in a single season in program history.
Hayward has some excellent pedigree, as he is the son of Reggie Hayward, a three-time All-Big 12 standout with the Iowa State Cyclones from 1997-2000 who was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2022.
He was also a third-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2001 NFL draft. He played four seasons with the Broncos before spending the last five years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Commodores were one of six schools to offer the younger Hayward, as he selected Army over Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, the Massachusetts Minutemen and Western Michigan Broncos.
The Duke Blue Devils were also interested in him, but never made an offer.
A standout on the football field, Hayward has also had an impressive track-and-field career
He participates in the javelin, pole vault and 100, 200 and 400 meter races.
