Clark Lea has laid out what he calls a 10-year plan to build a program that’s sustainable for years to come.

And while the first-year coach has an exceedingly positive outlook, growing pains are just around the corner for a program that was winless in 2020 and absorbed several transfers.

“So (we) won’t place a win-loss record or won’t state a win-loss record; don’t believe in doing that in any semblance,” Lea said at SEC Media Days. “We’ll say that every game that we play we’ll have a plan to win, and we’ll measure our results off our execution of that plan to win.”

Regardless, here are the 5 biggest concerns I have:

5. The offensive line doesn’t materialize

After 4 opt-outs on the offensive line last year, there’s hardly any way to tell what kind of unit will suit up this season. The Commodores have some talent on offense, especially at receiver, but unfortunately, the thin depth at running back could be hurt by the suspect OL. Vanderbilt has some solid prospects, starting with Re’Mahn Davis, who rushed for 936 yards in 2019 at Temple. There’s also Rocko Griffin, Patrick Smith and Dylan Betts-Pauley.

The rebuilt offensive line includes Tyler Steen at left tackle and Bradley Ashmore at right tackle. Cole Clemens is at left guard and Bryce Bailey at right guard; they are 2 of the 2020 opt-outs. Center will be filled by Kevo Wesley, Julian Hernandez or Michael Warden.

4. Positive returns take a while

The concern would be another alumnus can’t find the right mix to string together some wins.

The last time a Vanderbilt alumnus coached the program, Watson Brown was 1-10 in his first year in 1986. He had 3 seasons of 1-10 records, and his best campaign in a 5-year tenure was 4-7 in 1987. Before Brown, there was Red Sanders in the 1940s, who had a pair of stints that resulted in 17-12-1 and 19-10-1 records. Ray Morrison was the first in the late ’30s and he turned in a 25-20-2 record.

What happens if the 10-year plan and $300 million in facility upgrades don’t pay dividends for a while?

“As a competitor, the three years that I was there playing were the toughest three years of my career and it was hard, but it was formative,” Lea said at SEC Media Days. “I watched Bobby Johnson methodically build that program into what became a bowl champion in 2008. … We don’t apologize for being Vanderbilt. It’s not — I mean, our expectation is to win. Hey, look, everything takes time to build to its potential, but smart people figure things out. So we’re going to grip the bat and take our swing for the fences, and we’re very proud of what we represent, and we’re proud of what we’re going to sustain over time at Vanderbilt.”

3. Lea’s schtick will wear thin

Lea not giving the players jersey numbers at the start of fall camp raised some eyebrows, and led some to wonder if this is another version of Butch Jones’ failed slogans at Tennessee.

“We have a system for moving guys along in the program,” Lea said. “The system is holistic-based. It’s not just based off weight room performance or speed performance or football performance. It’s everything. It’s how we meet and greet people in the hallway. It’s the extra work we do in conditioning. It’s the investment we put into the program outside of when we’re on the clock together. I want teammates talking to teammates about what they want to create here.”

This is the kind of thing that may work, but it also has a bit of a high school feel to it. The dangerous possibility is it backfires and disrupts team chemistry.

2. Roster management

Running back is one position that is thin, as the Commodores entered fall camp with just 4 scholarship running backs. A thin roster would be a deju vu reminder to last season when Vanderbilt was seemingly on the edge of being eligible each week and missed the final game at Georgia because of low numbers. Lea is aware of it.

“I think right now we have to manage the player loading,” Lea said, per 247Sports. “We have to make sure that we’re able to stretch this preparation over a month. Obviously with the helmets-only practice, the volume will increase as we get into padded practices. But right now, certainly we’ve got an eye on getting through camp and training this team to play in games.”

1. Ken Seals’ development

Despite throwing 10 interceptions as a freshman in 2020, Seals put together a solid campaign overall for being on a winless team. He completed 65% of his passes for 1,928 yards, or 214 yards per game. He tossed 12 TD passes, which equaled Bo Nix’s total at Auburn and was more than any Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Mizzou, South Carolina or Tennessee QB threw.

How does he adjust to a new offensive coordinator and plenty of new faces around him? Countless quarterbacks have suffered a sophomore slump, especially with a new coordinator. He’s also admitted that ball security is one of the weaker parts of his game. “It’ll be on me to improve that.”