Clark Lea speaks on the state of the program ahead of signing day
On last night's edition of "Commodore Hour" on 102.5 The Game with Kevin Ingram and Andrew Allegretta, Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea fielded questions regarding the state of his football program.
On the excitement of signing day:
“It's been exciting to be on the road the last couple weeks and get to see those guys and their families and you know, how geared up they are. That's going to include the transfer portal. Look it's it's been a stressful few weeks, but so has the world of college football now and I'm just excited to to get to January and know the team and see the team and start to work. The portal part of it is challenging and frustrating all at the same time. We’ve had players coming and going. We’ve got guys who have put a lot of work and effort into deciding to do something else, but it’s also the excitement of adding some players that have really good potential to help this program. It's hard. I think it's hard because relationships matter to us and, you know, the removal of people is just tough and we invest in each other. So, you don't get that back. On the flip side of that, there's there's so many people out there who are excited about you know what we're doing and what the foundation is. It's energizing and exciting to think about the additions and certainly, when you talk about developmental freshmen, it takes time when you build a program and have that mindset. When you're talking about bringing people in who have snap experience and some of them extensive staff experience, you recognize you can start to close gaps fairly quickly.
On assuming the defensive coordinator role:
“I mean, it's a lot to take on. As I was contemplating all this, I used to spend 80 to 100 hours a week in that role alone. I think I have to depend upon staff to support the non-football aspects of my job. Then, I have to also lean on the coaching staff to assist when I'm not able to be in that room, but for me, it's a net positive and I'm excited. I think it’s very appropriate to tip my time investment towards more football. We’ve got to improve the way we play football and improve the product on the field. Putting my attention to that in this role gives me the ability to impact it and move it where I want it to go.”
On the offensive changes coming:
“I think we're close to being able to talk some specifics, but we’ve got a couple more hoops to jump through. I'll be excited to be able to spend time on new staff additions when we’re able to. Look, we didn't perform well on either offense or defense I think in some ways. Offensively, I felt as though the number of three and outs and the lack of the ability to possess the ball to shorten the game hurt us. Obviously, we hit a scoring drought there through the teeth of the schedule, that was also frustrating. Then, the turnovers compounded that. So there's a lot there. I felt like there were just times when watching our offensive play, I didn't see the identity of our program shining through that. That's not okay. We have to be a team that goes out and plays with total effort and plays together. I want to be competitive and tough. I want to see a team that's fighting for every blade of grass and when that's not showing up, I think you have to take a step back and say, what are the missing pieces here and where are we not manifesting that vision? So, that was the impetus for the change. What I was looking for was an offensive coordinator who had proven the ability to take control of the game through sustaining drives. I wanted an offensive coordinator who had proven the ability to score points in the red zone to establish a run game, which we were missing last year. I wanted someone who was going to have a quarterback-friendly system so that we could take a little bit of the burden off the quarterback and allow those guys just to play a little bit faster and freer. Then, I wanted a coordinator who knew how to limit mistakes, turnovers, penalties, and negative plays, and we found that. I mean, I'm super excited about the direction we've taken there and look forward to talking more about it. All of that is meant to facilitate a team that can play complementary football. Those things are all a matter of the offense supporting the defense and defense supporting the offense and special teams bonding the two. That's our formula for success. This year, we weren't able to accomplish that, but I'm excited for the moves and hopeful for the progress we're making this spring.”
On how successful Vanderbilt has been in the transfer portal:
“This is how crazy the world is, every night when I go home, I have to check in with my wife to make sure she hasn't gone for sure. Fortunately for everyone, she's still good and she’s still committed. It's necessary. It's a necessary part of the game now. I think a year ago, we weren't equipped to win in the portal because we weren't set up to be transactional. We were just purely transformative and didn't have the components needed to navigate these waters. Through the support of Candice Lee and Daniel Diermeier and our department, we've built out a competitive approach to the portal. So, I want to compliment the partnership with the University as well because the timing of these things can be challenging. When you start talking about postseason transfer portals opening in December, and trying to get people visited, all the loops closed for mid-year enrollees. There are a lot of people that have to be working behind the scenes to make that happen. I've been energized by the alignment that we've experienced and the support we've experienced. All these things will be made public in time, but I think you can look at social media and start to see some of that traction take hold. We've had success and it's gone from having 15 open mid-year spots and I’m not sure if we'll get the 15 at this point. We’re wondering if we’re going to have to turn someone away because we're we're at capacity, which is a great thing.”