Clark Lea receives contract extension ahead of SEC Media Days
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Clark Lea is entering Year 3 as head coach at Vanderbilt and looking to get the Commodores above .500. After big strides during the 2022 season, the head coach is being rewarded with a new contract extension entering 2023.
With SEC Media Days set to begin Monday afternoon, Vanderbilt announced a new contract for Lea before things get rolling. No details were released on the extension, but it certainly shows a belief in what Lea has done with the program to this point.
Locked in ?@Coach_Lea‘s contract has been extended.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/nAIrWIKqZY
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) July 17, 2023
Lea played fullback for the Commodores in the early 2000s before beginning his coaching career at the college level. He was a graduate assistant at UCLA before bouncing across stops at South Dakota State, UCLA, Bowling Green, Syracuse and Wake Forest, mainly coaching linebackers.
He especially made his rise as a coach at Notre Dame. After coaching LBs for the Irish in 2017, he was promoted to DC from 2018-20 before being hired by Vanderbilt prior to the 2021 season.
Vanderbilt’s turnaround
The Commodores went just 2-10 in Lea’s first season with the program, and that came on the heels of a 3-18 overall record across 2019-20. Fortunately, there were signs of growth a season ago.
Vanderbilt went 5-7 and was able to record 2 SEC wins: On the road against Kentucky and at home against Florida. It was the first season with multiple SEC wins for the program since the 2018 season.
Now, Lea will look to get the Commodores to their first bowl game since 2018 and their first winning season since 2013 as the program works on continued growth.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
