Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea has done something that not many Vanderbilt coaches have, he's ignited a fire in its football program.

Lea's team has the buzz, the momentum and the personality that makes you believe in it. Every time the third-year coach speaks it's hard not to feel better about his program than it was before. That's not to mention that this is probably his deepest and most talented team yet.

That can all seem much less significant in a few weeks. The buzz and saying all the right things is great, but the main thing is still the main thing. Winning.

Lea seems to echo that sentiment.

"I've got full confidence that we're a better team (than they were last season), but now it's about actualizing the results that show that to you," the third-year coach said at SEC media days.

After a 5-7 season that consisted of two late-season conference wins, it feels as if Lea's program has taken a significant step forward and that the main thing is as attainable as it ever has been for Lea in his Vanderbilt tenure.

The next step is obvious and is the clear goal in 2023; bowl eligibility. Lea was blunt about that.

"Though we can celebrate progress, we will never be satisfied with 5-7," Lea said. “Our goal is postseason play.”

That goal is always going to be difficult, as it always is in the SEC.

This team may be capable, though. Vanderbilt's staff has returned a number of 2022's biggest contributors, including quarterback AJ Swann, Vanderbilt's four leading receivers, four starting offensive linemen and a few defensive starters.

Lea and staff are starting to see the fruits of their labor on the recruiting trail, as well.

This looks to be the deepest roster of his Vanderbilt tenure by a significant margin. Lea's young guys aren't only providing depth, either. A number of freshmen such as Martel Hight, Junior Sherrill, London Humphreys, De'Marion Thomas and Sedrick Alexander will play. And play a lot.

Not because Vanderbilt desperately needs those freshmen to contribute, but because they've earned it.

That tends to be a theme around this program with Lea at the helm, it will have to be the calling card of his team if it wants to hit its target.

Lea's Commodores may only be favored in three games this season (Hawaii, Alabama A&M and UNLV), the rest they'll have to scratch and claw for. No matter how talented Vanderbilt's roster is, beating Florida, Auburn, Wake Forest, Kentucky and Missouri is never a given. To become bowl eligible, it will likely have to take at least three of those games.

If anything else happens Lea's program won't have the same momentum that it has now, it won't be quite as easy for him to sell the fanbase on his program's direction. In no world is Lea on the hot seat, but that doesn't make this season any less important for his team.

After all, the third-year coach has a chance to take his program to a place that it hasn't been since its 2018 Texas Bowl loss to Baylor.

That chance isn't some far-off pipe dream, either. Postseason play is legitimately on the table for this group, now it's time for them to make it happen.

Saturday's matchup with Hawaii will be the first stop of the Commodores' journey. What that journey is defined by is up to Lea's team.

Will it be defined by the construction surrounding FirstBank Stadium and the national narratives surrounding the program or will Vanderbilt rise above that?

Does this team have a real run in them that can be looked back upon as a turning point for this program?

Winning transcends construction and narratives. After all, there's no construction at bowl games.

This season is what this team makes it and it feels as if Vanderbilt has the best chance it has in a long time to make it a captivating one.