Vanderbilt OC David Raih relieved of play calling duties, Joey Lynch assumes role

Vanderbilt offensive coordinator David Raih has been relieved of his play calling duties and current quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Joey Lynch has assumed that role, Clark Lea said in Tuesday’s press conference.

Lea did not mention that Raih was being demoted, or that his official role was being changed. He is still listed on Vanderbilt’s coaching roster as the offensive coordinator.

“About a week into fall camp, we just made the decision, looking kind of big picture, that we were going to lean on Joey Lynch’s experience in that role as play caller,” Lea said. “It’s always been a collaborative effort… Certainly, Coach Raih’s fingerprints are all over that still.

“Really, [it was] more of a lean to Joey [Lynch’s] experience, and also I wanted for David to be able to focus his attention on that receiver group that we think can be featured in our offense.”

Lea stated multiple times that the decision was not a result of Vanderbilt’s performance in Week 1. Rather, he made the decision to have Lynch call the plays well before the matchup with East Tennessee State, and the change came “about a week into fall camp.”

Vanderbilt on Saturday was upset by East Tennessee State, the first FCS-over-FBS upset since 2015, and the Commodores dropped to 0-1 after the 23-3 loss. The offense converted on five of 15 third-down attempts, generating 321 total yards of offense — 236 through the air and 85 on the ground — while losing a fumble and throwing two interceptions.

From the Kingsbury coaching tree

Raih was hired on Jan. 23 to serve as first-year head coach Clark Lea’s offensive coordinator, following seven years of coaching experience in the NFL. He came to Vanderbilt directly after two seasons as the Arizona Cardinals’ wide receivers coach, and in 2020 he led the Cardinals to an average of 244.8 passing yards per game and 25.6 points per game. He worked under head coach Kliff Kingsbury, Raih’s former coworker while he served as outside receivers coach at Texas Tech in 2013. 

Raih had previously served as a wide receivers coach (2018), offensive perimeter coach (2017), assistant offensive line coach (2016) and coaching administrator (2014-15) with the Green Bay Packers before his time in Arizona. He previously worked in college football with UCLA, Iowa and Texas Tech.

Lynch, the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, appears to be serving as the acting offensive coordinator, as Lea said he will be calling the plays. Also hired in January as part of Lea’s inaugural staff, the 2021 season is Lynch’s first with a Power Five program; previously, he spent last season at Colorado State, were the Rams played just four games due to COVID-19 and averaged 22.2 points per contest and 199.5 passing yards per contest. Prior to Colorado State, Lynch spent 11 seasons at Ball State in various roles including offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.