Clark Lea dismisses Vanderbilt’s decades-long losing streak in Tuscaloosa: ‘We’re creating our own history’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Clark Lea has led one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college football at Vanderbilt. After records of 2-10, 5-7, and 2-10, the Commodores broke through in his 4th year in charge, going 7-6 and winning the Birmingham Bowl thanks in part to the play of the talented — and outspoken — Diego Pavia.
That season, of course, featured the Commodores upsetting then-No. 1 Alabama in Nashville, snapping a 23-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide dating back to 1984. It was also Vandy’s first-ever win over a top-ranked opponent.
That win in 1984 was in Tuscaloosa. Now, with the Commodores off to their best start since 2008 — 5-0 — and ranked 16th in the country, they’ll look to snap a nine-game losing streak at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“I don’t know that history,” Clark Lea said when asked about the streak during a Tuesday press conference, via The Next Round. “We’re creating our own history here. That’s how we see it. That really is the spirit of this group.”
Lea noted that he wasn’t overlooking the program’s overall history, but would rather focus on the future. It’s a future he hopes will include the Commodores leaving Tuscaloosa with a victory on Saturday.
“What has happened before has no bearing on what is to come,” he said. “The … investment over time, the painstaking, the suffering and sacrifice has given way to a program that feels solid and feels whole.
“And I think [it] gives us a chance to, again, create the history we want to actually define this program.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
