Clark Lea 1-on-1: Why Vanderbilt is 'ok with being different' and 'doubling-down' on its unique rebuild

MIRAMAR, Fla. — Clark Lea listened to the question and the stoic expression on his face never changed. 

Were you surprised at the backlash last summer at SEC Media Days after boldly proclaiming that Vanderbilt would be the best program in the country?

The moment the Commodores’ second-year head coach made the comment he was immediately lampooned on Twitter and across the web.

Vandy has never even won 10 games in a single season, some quickly pointed out. 

Best program in America? They’re not even a good program in their own state!

But Clark Lea isn’t concerned about the past or other people’s opinions. He’s focused on Vanderbilt’s future, which is why he remains steadfast that his statement was merely misunderstood — not some hyperbolic falsehood. 

“It wasn’t surprising to me,” Clark Lea said late last month at the SEC Spring Meetings re: the backlash he received from his SEC Media Days speech.  

“Very few people understand what we’re doing. Honestly, I think very few people care to look at what we’re doing. 

“People that pay attention understand what I meant when I said that. They understand we’re taking actions every day to produce that. … This is about a program design. It’s about a vision of success for Vanderbilt. It’s about a holistic experience that I feel very passionately about, very strongly about.” 

When Lea takes the podium at media days in Nashville next month, here’s a safe bet he make a similar statement again. 

Everyone knows Vanderbilt is different. But in 2023 — with the college football world changing drastically thanks to the transfer portal and NIL — the program sticks out as an even greater outlier with the old-school approach Lea is taking to rebuilding the team. 

The former Vandy fullback has an everyman attitude, and he lives by the philosophy of “we” will ultimately triumph over “me.”

Anchor Down is still the Commodores’ school slogan, but perhaps it should add a Mandalorian addendum during Lea’s leadership.

Anchor Down: This is The Way.

“We won’t compromise what we want long-term in what we want right now in our program. I think that’s important because part of our design is about compounding results,” Lea said. 

“Compounding decisions, actions and behaviors. I wasn’t surprised by the backlash, but it’s important for me as the leader of our program to carry that message every single day. I’m not going to back down from that based on what other people feel about it because I owe it to the people in our building to stay true to that vision because that’s the position I’m in.”

“We’re a developmental program,” Lea added. 

“We’re traditional in that sense. We’re not deviating from that personality based off the circumstances or conditions. We want to invest deeper in people. And that’s just the way I want to coach, to be honest with you. I got into coaching for a reason. Winning is important, but winning a certain way. Winning the right way. Having integrity. So we’re going to design a program that functions that way. I believe in that. I think that human connection is important. I think that connection bigger than yourself is important and shared suffering and sacrifice are critical to forging the bonds that you need to sustain success through adversity. We won’t waver in our approach.”

The sentiment is admirable. But will it work?

LEA, ‘DORES STAY THE COURSE AFTER YEAR 1 CHOPPINESS

Clark Lea was undeterred after a humbling 2-10 season in Year 1, including a blowout loss to an in-state FCS school in his head coaching debut. 

He stayed the course. 

He didn’t chase “short-term gains” with the transfer portal by trying to “microwave the rebuild to accelerate the process.” He let Vandy’s slow cooker do its thing, and after several signs of validation in Year 2, Lea is even more confident that he has the right ingredients in place. 

Lea got emotional after the ‘Dores snapped the nation’s longest conference losing streak (26 games spanning more than three seasons) with an upset over Kentucky. A week later they beat Florida. They soared past their preseason win total in September, beating Hawaii, Elon and Northern Illinois. 

An emotional win for @Coach_Lea and @VandyFootball over No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats 👏 pic.twitter.com/Ttpx9FBB08

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 12, 2022

They fell a game short of making the postseason for the first time since 2018, but Lea was proud of the way his team navigated through the next stage of their journey. 

“We’re moving closer every day. Last season, there was confidence early on, and then we hit a stretch there where we were falling short of our goals,” Lea told On3 in a sit-down in Destin. 

“Anytime you’re building something, you’re in between what was and what is to be. Every day you have to make sure you’re getting closer to what is to be. I think there were some moments there where we were faltering a little bit. To see the guys pull out of that and find success later in the season was important. It showed them that when they take control of the things that they can control when they play to our identity, they can be competitive. They can win. 

“We’re pulling on that into this offseason.”

Lea loves to harp on culture, identity and vision when talking about taking Vanderbilt from “what was” to “what is to be,” and although cliche, he’s sincere. Make fun all you want, but he firmly believes those are the pillars of how Vanderbilt is different. 

In the same sport Deion Sanders took a controlled burning to Colorado’s roster this offseason and Lincoln Riley moved shop from Norman to Los Angeles and took his best toys with him, Lea has no interest in that sort of team-building. Vanderbilt doesn’t even subscribe to the Mike Norvell slow-stacking transfer rebuild happening at FSU. 

Vandy uses the transfer portal sparingly. In the last two recruiting cycles, Vanderbilt has inked two Top 50 class and signed 49 high school prospects and added just 10 transfers — several of whom are walk-ons. 

This spring, Vandy even released a graphic touting the fact that it was the least active SEC program in the portal — both with players leaving and coming in. 

Come get developed 👷🏾‍♂️🔨⭐️ pic.twitter.com/DhJikfxw8E

— JOSHUA SMITH (@J_Smitty31) February 14, 2023

“When people choose to be with us we celebrate that, and when they choose to move on we celebrate that too because in the end we’re left with the team that we should have based on the identity and values that hold as a program,” Clark Lea said. 

Meanwhile, NIL is only a factor with players on the current roster. Vandy has a collective but the whole idea of “pay for play” is an affront to how Lea sees a roster coming together. 

“One of our covenants as a program is to “Earn it every day.” So it’s hard for me to look somebody in the eye and say, ‘Here’s what you’re promised. You’re guaranteed. I just don’t believe it fits with who we are,” he explained. 

“We have an NIL program and a collective that we’re associated with that allows our players to experience NIL in healthy ways. As a coach, I have a bigger responsibility than just transactions. This needs to be about transformation to me. … If I start a relationship based on a transaction, that doesn’t fit the program that we’re building. We’re different. We’re ok with being different. We’re not trying to be anybody else. We want to be uniquely Vanderbilt.”

WHAT LIES AHEAD IN YEAR 3 FOR LEA & VANDERBILT?

While Clark Lea nearly took the Commodores bowling last fall, preseason prognosticators aren’t high on Vandy’s chances to reach the postseason in 2023 either m.

Perhaps they’re selling the program’s potential a bit short, though. 

Vegas hung their win total at 3.5, but the Commodores are a team that has both continuity and continued buy-in will a still newish staff. Lea, who said the team held over 70 team meetings during a 100-day “winter and spring formation,” saw signs this offseason if a roster willing to endure. The callous of toughness and shared sacrifice started to show.

“They’ve allowed us to push them further. They’re able to push without pushing back. In our winter training, they went really hard, and I think at a time when some other programs are looking at how hard do we want to go because we don’t want to turn people off, we’ve doubled down on the values of hard work, shared suffering and shared sacrifice,” Lea said. 

“I’m really proud of the way the team not only responded to that but really formed around it. We played the best football we’ve played (since I’ve been here) against each other this spring. That’s to be expected in Year 3. But we’re more competitive. Our team speed is measurably better. We’ve truly gotten bigger, faster and stronger. The product is better. You’re excited about that … but we still have work to do this summer and then we’ll set sail on the journey that is the 2023 season. I’m excited. I’m energized. I love the team that we have and the level of buy-in that we have is really high.” 

Vanderbilt is one of two schools in the SEC that returns the same head coach, both coordinators and starting quarterback this fall. AJ Swann is the most talented quarterback at Vandy since Jay Cutler, and Jayden McGowan and Will Sheppard are the best receiving duo you’ve never heard of. The Commodores’ defense was a sieve last season (last in the SEC in scoring and yards per play allowed) and must be fixed, but Lea believes the defensive line is the most improved unit on the team. 

“When I set out to build this program retention was a very important part of that formula,” Lea said. 

“Retention of the system. Retention of the system. Retention of coaches. We won’t always have control over that but I’m excited about the fact that we do have familiarity and we have the chance to double down on that familiarity to build a great team this year.”

Lea has made it clear Vanderbilt is not going to shortcut its way to the mountaintop. There is no elevator to the peak of Everest — or out of the cellar of the SEC. 

So everything in and around the program is done with the next step in mind. The goal this fall is continued progress. A growing competitive identity. Perhaps a bowl game.

Will Vanderbilt ever be the best program in America? No. But the whole point of Lea’s comment was to create a new vision and identity for Vanderbilt’s program. He wants to rid the program of a capped ceiling or expectations. 

“I want to be clear we celebrate progress, but we don’t celebrate 5-7. We fell short (overall) last season,” Clark Lea said. 

“We want to be a program that week in and week out allows us to be competitive, go to the postseason and sustain that success over time. I was happy that our team experienced a couple of breakthrough moments in conference. I don’t want to say that’s not important. We set a course when we started this two years ago, and we’re on course. Our team feels like it’s closer. Our team feels like it’s positioned to launch. We had a great winter and spring. We’re excited for the summer and hopefully, once we get to the fall, we’re closer to the identity of the program that we have in our vision.”