Clark Lea on Vanderbilt being bowl eligible: 'This is a marker for us, not an arrival'

Vanderbilt is going bowling for the first time in six seasons after becoming eligible last weekend. While being a huge accomplishment for him and his program, though, Clark Lea thinks it’s just the first for the Commodores.

Lea expressed how he felt about becoming bowl-eligible to open his postgame press conference following a 17-7 win at Auburn on Saturday. He knows the significance of it but also understands that they want it to be the first berth of many for Vandy.

“This is a great moment for our program and one that we need to celebrate the right way,” said Lea.

“To be at this moment, six wins means a lot. Now, you know, this is a marker for us. It’s not an arrival,” Lea said. “You know, this is a special win. The other five have been special too.”

Still, Vanderbilt has clearly come a long way since just last season. They were 2-10 again last year to bring Lea’s record there to 9-27 overall since 2021. That meant a third losing season over his tenure and was the 10th consecutive losing finish for the program.

“I think, when you look at where we’ve come, and I guess what amounts to 11 months now? We’ve had an incredible journey,” said Lea. “You know, I feel like, in December, we probably hit rock bottom at that point coming out of last season. I’ve said this before but, you know, in those moments? I think it’s just the strength of the leadership that you’re following…Then the special people around me to keep me supported and stepping into the fight every day…I don’t think that anyone will actually understand what December was for us except for that circle.”

Now, Vanderbilt is 6-3 overall. That has them going to their first bowl game since 2018 and set to have their first winning season since 2014. It’s more than reason to be proud on West End but only until their next kickoff this weekend in Music City.

“You know, we’re going to celebrate this the right way. Then we’re going to go home and we’ll wake up tomorrow and focus on South Carolina,” said Lea. “You know, I never said outright that our goal was to go to a bowl, you know. Our goal is to get everything we can out of this team and I think, with every day, we invest more with this group of guys.”

“There’s really no limitation on what we can accomplish here through the finish of the season and what that’s going to take from us on our arrival home is a real focus on South Carolina.”

Vanderbilt has already had an incredibly successful season with what they’ve done. It’s now about what they can continue to do with three games left against quality competition in conference and, after that, their first bowl game of the decade.

“I’m proud of this program,” said Lea. “I’m proud of today…Just really grateful for this day.”