Vanderbilt’s win over Kentucky on Saturday was one of the biggest victories of the day, as the Commodores secured their first SEC win since 2019. It also means Vanderbilt will finish the season with at least four victories since they won six in ’18.
In his second season, coach Clark Lea acknowledged how tough it has been for the team the past few years. After the game, he gave an emotional interview explaining why this win meant a lot.
“You’ve got a bunch of guys that are fighting, and we’re building a program,” Lea said, fighting through tears. “Building a program is hard. It takes tough people that are aligned and doing the right things the right way, and that’s what these guys are doing. I’m glad they got rewarded today.”
Vanderbilt is Lea’s first head coaching position, as he spent the previous three seasons as the Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator before being hired by the Commodores in 2021. So far, he is just 6–16 as Vanderbilt’s head coach, but that is an improvement over the team’s 3–18 record in 2019 and ’20.
The Commodores close out the season at home vs. Florida and No. 5 Tennessee, so it is possible that they top out at four wins. Still, that is a step in the right direction for Lea and the Vanderbilt program.
