Clark Lea shares expectations for Vanderbilt's roster for bowl game

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea shared his expectations for the bowl game roster and whether that includes opt outs, guys entering the portal, etc.

Vanderbilt finished the season 6-6 and probably exceeded some expectations. But it was the next step in Lea’s program building, highlighted by the upset of Alabama.

So as far as a lot of opt outs, Lea isn’t going to go that far as Vandy looks to finish 7-6 with a win over Georgia Tech.

“A lot is a lot. So I don’t expect a lot of anything,” Lea said. “There’s no script for program building in 2024, there’s no script for roster management … I mean, this is all kind of we’re, you know, staying agile and adapting as we go. We’ve had a lot of hard conversations here internally, because we know we have to make room on this roster to keep elevating and moving forward. 

“And there’s a lot of guys that through mutual conversation, have decided to move on in their best interest, in the program’s best interest. And I think there’s something to be celebrated about that. We’re working with these guys to again, find opportunities for them that best fit their expectations for how they play those guys, almost to a man, have have said how excited they are to play in this bowl game and how excited they are to finish what we started, I think that’s a great statement in terms of the type of program we have, and, like the soul of this program.”

Lea respects players’ wishes to move on from Vanderbilt whether it’s to go to the NFL or the portal. It’s all about building up the culture.

“And so I’m going to celebrate every day that I have with those guys who will be moving on, but it won’t be without sadness and a sense of loss in terms of the relationship,” Lea said. “And then there will be guys that make their own personal decisions based off of their best interest that they won’t be with us moving forward, and all of it’s you know, whether it’s our choice or mutual choice or their choice. 

“All of it serves to move our program forward. And what I know is that we’ll put a competitive, tough product on the field on December 27 that reflects the program that we are. And the program that we’re building, and I’ll be really excited, and I’ll celebrate that.”