Nashville, TENN--Clark Lea has always believed Vanderbilt deserves a winner.

Lea believes that turning Vanderbilt into a winner will have an impact beyond West End, though. He believes that it will have an effect on the country.

He believes that his program is important beyond what it does on the field.

"I believe that the world needs a strong Vanderbilt football program," Lea said after Saturday's win over Auburn.

Lea's belief in what his program can represent drives him.

The Vanderbilt head coach believes that his team, which is ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll, is where it is as a result of its mentality towards development.

"I believe that this is the kind of program where leaders are built and grown," Lea said. "Maybe that mindset for me and that approach, the lens in which I see my job and the importance of it gives me the extra motivation to step into the fight everyday."

Lea has expressed defiance towards the thought of external motivation in regards to building his program, that wouldn't have gotten him far as his program sat at 2-10 a year ago.

At times Lea had to sit back and reflect on what he was trying to do internally, which was platform the message he was trying to convey.

Vanderbilt's 6-3 start has done that.

"Winning's important to us but I can make sure that these young people are growing in adulthood and are ready for the responsibility of being husbands, fathers and leaders in community," Lea said. "You talk about the full development of their personal character and the program character, as well. To care about people still."

Lea believes that a mentality like that isn't present everywhere.

The modern college football landscape is often defined exclusively by results and money. That's something Lea has acknowledged.

He doesn't want his program to be defined by that, though.

"This is a world that we're living in right now that's becoming so short term and so transactional," Lea said. "You talk about the full development of their personal character and the program character, as well."

"We can make choices here at Vanderbilt to build this thing the right way and to pay attention to the fact that we're here to win."

Lea's program is experiencing a level of winning that it hasn't before. Vanderbilt is ranked for the second time this season, it is bowl eligible for the first time since 2018 and knocked off the nation's No.1 team for the first time in program history.

The Vanderbilt coach cares deeply for those results, but wants them to lead to more significant development.

"[My goal is] to do everything I can to deliver a program that does exactly what we want it to do, which is impact everything," Lea said.