The challenges of sustaining success on the gridiron at Vanderbilt

Virginia Tech v Vanderbilt
Virginia Tech v Vanderbilt / Johnnie Izquierdo/GettyImages
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Sustained success on the gridiron can be challenging for any program in the SEC, but nobody has more obstacles to overcome than the Vanderbilt Commodores. This is a program that has had only two winning seasons in my lifetime and 9 total bowl appearances in school history.

The challenges start with the academic standards which limits the type of players that come to play at Vandy and is the only stadium in the SEC without any type of homefield advantage. I've yet to see a time when the visiting crowd doesn't outnumber the home team fans by a large margin.

James Franklin is the only former coach that brough legitimate success to the program and he left for greener pastures at Penn State. It does seem like the Commodores hit a homerun with their current coach Clark Lea who has fully embraced the challenge of turning this program around again.

In his second year he raised some eyebrows when he beat Kentucky and Florida in consecutive weeks and came within a game of bowl eligibility. Now in 2024 with the addition of Diego Pavia things appear to be heading in the right direction.

This team has already beaten Virginia Tech and gave Missouri all they wanted. I am not sure how many more wins this team will have this season, but there is a different feel at Vanderbilt. This team has fully embraced their coach's persona and are no longer accepting being the doormat of the SEC.

The road will continue to be tough, but with the transfer portal and NIL things even become a little easier at an academic school. I am not sure if sustained success will ever be a reality for Vandy, but if there is a coach who will find that success and then stay long team it is Coach Lea.

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