Clark Lea changes tune on Nick Saban comments: ‘It does piss me off’
Clark Lea appears to have changed his mind regarding certain Nick Saban comments.
After Lea’s Vanderbilt team pulled off a massive upset of Alabama in Nashville, Saban’s comments about Vanderbilt being the only place in the SEC that’s not hard to play at resurfaced.
Of course, Saban’s comments look silly now that Vanderbilt pulled off the upset. After the game, Lea brushed off Saban’s take.
“I don’t have an opinion on that,” Lea said. “I love coach. I mean I’ve got so much respect for him and I don’t take any disrespect. What we need to do is is fill the stadium with black and gold shirts, and when we do that it will be a hard place to play. It may not be the biggest, but it is on top of you and it can get loud. I think this is a glimpse as to what Saturday night in Nashville can be. So I didn’t know, I stay pretty well insulated in general, but that doesn’t have an enough effect on me.”
However, the Vandy HC changed his tune Monday when speaking on Nashville’s 102.5 The Game.
“It does piss me off, because this is my place,” Lea said. “I didn’t hear about it before. I certainly would have put that in front of the team, had I. I certainly would have brought that to everyone’s attention, and I’m sure they all saw it — the team did.”
Of course, Lea, as a Vanderbilt alum, is going to take those comments more personally than a typical coach.
Lea’s squad got the last laugh, though, as Vanderbilt escaped with a 40-35 win in one of college football’s biggest upsets in recent memory. Saban’s comments were played on the video board in FirstBank Stadium as the game wound to a close, adding insult to injury for the Tide.
Vanderbilt’s next matchup will be in Week 7 against the Kentucky Wildcats.