Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea wins National Coach of the Year Award following 10-2 season
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Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea was honored with 1 of the most prestigious awards in college football coaching, capturing the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award on Tuesday.
Lea led Vanderbilt to 1 of the best seasons in program history this fall, as the Commodores went 10-2, capping their outstanding regular season with a victory at rival Tennessee. That not only got Vandy to double-digit wins in 2025, it gave the Commodores a 6-2 final record in the SEC.
Speaking of SEC honors, Lea is adding the Eddie Robinson award to his back-to-back SEC Coach of the Year honors. He is the first Vanderbilt coach to win SEC Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons. Now, Lea has made more history for himself in Nashville, becoming the first Vandy coach to capture a National Coach of the Year award.
He is also the first SEC coach to win the Eddie Robinson award since Ed Orgeron did it with LSU during its magical 2019 national championship season.
Lea won the Eddie Robinson award among a group of 12 finalists, and he’ll receive the prestigious award named for the late Grambling coaching legend during a reception in Miami on Jan. 17 in the leadup to the national title game 2 days later.
The Vanderbilt coach has 1 more chance to add to his budding legend on the field this season when Lea’s Commodores face Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Year’s Eve (noon ET, ESPN).
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
