Vanderbilt football Clark Lea progress SEC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If they issued Vegas odds on coaches most likely to dish a viral media day quote, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea wouldn’t exactly be among the favorites.

Lea is so defiantly pragmatic and generally thoughtful that his players have joked with him over the years that he profiles more as a philosophy professor than a fire-breathing football coach. A copy of the book “101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think” sits on his desk.

In other words, they’d pass Prohibition laws on Broadway in Nashville before Lea would earn a reputation as a carnival barker.

Last year at SEC media days, however, Lea delivered a quote that was essentially the most memorable one of many occasion and obtained aggregated in all places from Fox Information to Bro Bible: “We all know in time Vanderbilt soccer would be the finest program within the nation,” Lea declared from the rostrum.

At a program that after went a half-century between bowl wins — from the 1955 Gator Bowl to the 2008 Music Metropolis Bowl — the quote went viral as a result of it strained credulity.

A 12 months later, among the root of Lea’s boundless Commodores optimism is coming to life. There is a large, sprawling and noisy athletic facility overhaul underway at Vanderbilt — often called Vandy United — that tasks to price someplace between $600 million and $700 million. It ought to ship Vanderbilt the kind of amenities that match the standard of the schooling on campus.

Whereas Vandy United will contact each sport at Vanderbilt, the numerous upgrades to each facet of the soccer program’s infrastructure and stadium are indicators that, lastly, Vanderbilt is dedicated to being greater than a beautiful weekend getaway for opposing SEC followers.

“I’d not have chosen to return right here if I did not know the dedication could be there,” Lea advised ESPN in his workplace on Monday, the identical day he agreed to a three-year contract extension by 2029. “I believe generally as a result of I do know what that dedication is and I consider in it, generally it feels just a little lonely once you’re pushing that narrative with out the visible illustration of. So I believe the development is one thing that we will level out externally to say that is occurring, now’s the time.”

The visible and audio proof was obvious out Lea’s window. A crane almost eight tales excessive marked the skyline on the far finish of the stadium. At the least 4 totally different backhoes clawed the bottom, because the horseshoe on the finish of the stadium had been gutted. Sufficient building gear was scattered across the stadium — solely about 60 yards of which is usable for soccer for now — that it regarded like one thing out of a toddler’s fever dream.

The corresponding construct has already begun on the sector. Vanderbilt confirmed significant enchancment from Lea’s first 12 months to his second — the Commodores went from 2-10 and winless within the SEC to 5-7 and successful at Kentucky and over Florida. Lea made clear that nobody ought to throw a celebration for 5-7, however the progress has been important.

“I believe we have to attract some strains at the concept we’re celebrated for 5-7,” Lea stated. “That is not what we’re on this for. And we will have a look at progress and acknowledge that it is being made, however we’re not going to be left happy with that.”

Whereas the Commodores nonetheless have a methods to go on the sector, there is a lengthy overdue plan in place for Lea and athletic director Candice Storey Lee to assist clear up one of many previous century’s most vexing riddles: Why cannot Vanderbilt soccer’s model aspire to the identical uncommon air because the college’s model?

The large facility overhaul is a major signal of that dedication and Lee’s imaginative and prescient. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey factors to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier being bullish on athletics in his quick tenure and Lee’s dedication to see it by. “You now see the motion,” Sankey advised ESPN. “It is thrilling for the longer term.”

The pitch is straightforward, as Lea calls it “certainly one of one” in school soccer: the model of Vanderbilt’s elite teachers, the aggressive platform of the SEC and the growth that Nashville is present process all combining for Vanderbilt to lastly turn into a vacation spot for prime soccer recruits. Vanderbilt is constructing, with the hopes they’ll come.

“It speaks to the extent of dedication the college has for our program,” Lea stated over the development rumble. “That soccer is vital right here. And that is a hell of a press release. Nevertheless it additionally simply pushes this additional down the road of claiming you do not have to make compromise in your decisions.”

There are some high quality gamers in place for the Commodores to seize a bowl bid on the sector in 2023. Most promising is sophomore quarterback AJ Swann, who confirmed the moxie, arm expertise and manufacturing — 10 landing passes and two interceptions in six begins — to win the job as a real freshman and cement himself as this system’s quarterback of the longer term.

He’ll be throwing to a robust crew of receivers, together with Will Sheppard, who is likely one of the SEC’s best returning receivers with 9 landing catches final 12 months. (That was good for second within the SEC.)

There’s additionally a sense that the accrued expertise on protection, together with junior tackling machine CJ Taylor and rangy security De’Rickey Wright, will put up extra resistance. Vanderbilt completed No. 124 in scoring protection final 12 months, and that included being close to the underside of the nation in almost each go protection class.

“I hope that this season reveals the ability of retention, retaining gamers, retaining methods, retaining employees familiarity, deepening relationships, deepening understandings,” Lea stated. “That is actually what makes me most enthusiastic about what’s forward of us.”

For the gamers and followers, there will likely be momentary inconveniences. The capability for FirstBank Stadium at Vanderbilt this season will likely be almost 30,000, down from 40,000. When your complete challenge is accomplished round 2026, there will likely be a plethora of premium ticket experiences out there in a stadium of round 34,000 that higher match with the leisure and sports activities choices in Nashville.

Vanderbilt deputy athletic director Tommy McClelland, who’s operating level on the Vandy United challenge, stated the alignment on the faculty between the chancellor, board and athletics has allowed such important change to occur so rapidly. And one byproduct is the Frist Household Athletic Village, which is the umbrella identify for the large constructing overhaul.

He factors to the success that Tim Corbin’s baseball program has had — two nationwide titles previously decade — as a blueprint for what may be executed when all of the forces at Vanderbilt are aligned.

“We’re located so uniquely geographically within the convention that we’re in. The town that now we have is a rising, vibrant metropolis,” McClelland stated. “It’s a world-class schooling. If you mix the expertise of elite athletics, elite teachers and the power to pursue all of your athletic desires, what’s attainable is reaching on the highest stage.”

Not stunning for a coach who retains additional copies of the ebook “The Mountain Is You” to lend to his gamers, Lea is extra about outcomes than rhetoric. However as the bottom strikes round at Vanderbilt, it is more and more evident that for the primary time in class historical past, there is a clear need for Vanderbilt to spend money on soccer so this system matches the varsity’s tutorial model.

“We shudder on the considered being an educational faculty that performs soccer,” Lea stated. “We wish to be often called a very good soccer faculty. Meaning we take our soccer actually severely.”

These indicators are lastly seen on campus. If you wish to see them up shut, a tough hat is required.