Clark Lea announces top freshmen Daniel Martin, Maurice Edwards no longer on Vanderbilt football team

Two players are no longer with the Vanderbilt program, head coach Clark Lea announced in a statement on Wednesday. Running back Maurice Edwards and linebacker Daniel Martin, both class of 2022 signees, will not be with the Commodores going forward just one game into the season.

Lea did not provide an exact reason as to why the two freshmen and the program moved on from one another.

“We take pride in having the highest standards as a program, and in doing so ensure that it is a privilege to be a part of this team,” Lea said in his statement via the Tennessean. A strong ecosystem will undoubtedly strengthen our program’s performance on and off the field, and this ecosystem is my responsibility. We wish Maurice and Daniel the very best in their journeys forward.”

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Clark Lea makes additional statement on two freshmen

During the SEC coach’s teleconference, Lea had an opportunity to expand on Edwards and Martin leaving Vanderbilt. He said the program is not going to “be defined” by any individual and will continue to build the Commodores up.

Lea echoed a lot of similar sentiments in his original statement but stated the goal for Vanderbilt longer term is to win.

“It’s never a fun aspect of a good day when you make these decisions,” Lea said. “They’re hard decisions. I’m not going to go more in-depth beyond what was said in the statement. We consider it a privilege to be a part of this program and we have the highest operative standards here and our expectations are clear.

“We fight every day to build this program into what we know it can be. That’s as far as I’ll go that way with what it means for us going forward. This program isn’t going to be defined by any one individual in the program.”

More on Vanderbilt no longer being with two players

Vanderbilt got their season underway earlier than most SEC foes, playing against Hawaii in Week 0. Neither Edwards nor Martin appeared in the game for the Commodores and were expected to take redshirt seasons. Being part of one of the top recruiting classes the program has had in a while, both were expected to contribute going forward.

Martin was a four-star prospect coming out of high school per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. He was the No. 34 linebacker in the country coming out of Marrietta, GA.

As for Edwards, he was in the three-star category but still a top player from Illinois. The On3 Consensus ranked him as the No. 40 running back in the 2022 class.