I like Coach Lea...

[thefan]

for several reasons, the first being his demeanor in that he doesn't get rattled; no deer eyes in the headlights! Coach Lea pretty much knew what to expect when he arrived and I think he is instilling optimism and confidence in a situation that is very difficult to do such. In my opinion the air game is hurting because receivers are struggling to get separation and the offensive line is not yet good enough to give either qb very much time to evaluate and throw, much less relax in the pocket. The defensive line has some promising moments but can't seem to pressure opposing qb's consistently. No matter what individual awards, game statistics, or hoopla, football is still basically won or lost by those in the trenches. My very favorite thing about Coach Lea is that he has the most important trait I hoped for regarding his coaching abilities and that was, "Would his team steadily show improvement?". I think the answer is "yes", not by leaps and bounds, but consistently improving. Think Coach Lea was a great hire for a university that has a dismal football history, stadium, and administrative support!

[DivergentDore]

I want to like CCL and hope he is successful enough to make himself my favorite VU head coach ever. He still has lots of time to earn my fanship but he's off to a very bad start and very little of it is the onfield results. I look at why certain results happen.

His decision to not allow transfers was simply boneheaded and shortsighted. The only teams that didn't allow transfers are VU, the service academies (obvious reasons), and Clemson. Dabo himself called his decision to not allow transfers in a boneheaded decision and has taken full blame for for Tigers lack of results this year, much of which is because of a lack of depth. We came into the season short on RBs and DBs, and then had to pull a safety from an already depleted defensive backfield and convert him to a running back. Both of those position groups would have welcomed some help.

The 500 mile recruiting radius is another headscratcher. There's a reason teams try to schedule teams in Texas and Florida. There's a 3* recruit with high upside under every rock in both of those states.

A deer in the headlights is exactly what CCL was in game 1 vs ETSU. Have liked his demeanor much more in the games since but that was the worst VU loss in history and leaves a very bad taste.

Our receivers not getting separation is another thing that irks me to no end and is a direct result of CCL's hands on approach with the offensive gameplan. Offensive minded coaches working up a gameplan work inside-out and force the defense to defend the field from center point outwards (crossing routes, slants, etc). Mizzou went zero coverage times and split their safeties outside the hashes as they knew we wouldn't throw over the middle. This is a huge disadvantage for any young QB as they are limited to 2/3 of the field on drop back passes with each of the thirds on opposite sides of the field. It is also a disadvantage to receivers as defensive backs can put our receivers on their outside hip and not have to worry about the inside hip. Offensive minded coaches would cut the field in half and have that whole half visible to the QB. If CCL doesn't trust Lynch and Raih enough to allow them make the offensive gameplan, then he needs to hire someone he does trust. I absolutely love the demeanor of Lynch on the sideline and would also love to see him calling plays with "his" gameplan. His offense worked inside-out at CSU btw.

[Go Vandy!]

This may just be me. I loved CJF as a coach, hated as a person. The opposite for CDM & CCL.

[kay1092]

I want to like CCL and hope he is successful enough to make himself my favorite VU head coach ever. He still has lots of time to earn my fanship but he's off to a very bad start and very little of it is the onfield results. I look at why certain results happen.

His decision to not allow transfers was simply boneheaded and shortsighted. The only teams that didn't allow transfers are VU, the service academies (obvious reasons), and Clemson. Dabo himself called his decision to not allow transfers in a boneheaded decision and has taken full blame for for Tigers lack of results this year, much of which is because of a lack of depth. We came into the season short on RBs and DBs, and then had to pull a safety from an already depleted defensive backfield and convert him to a running back. Both of those position groups would have welcomed some help.

The 500 mile recruiting radius is another headscratcher. There's a reason teams try to schedule teams in Texas and Florida. There's a 3* recruit with high upside under every rock in both of those states.

A deer in the headlights is exactly what CCL was in game 1 vs ETSU. Have liked his demeanor much more in the games since but that was the worst VU loss in history and leaves a very bad taste.

Our receivers not getting separation is another thing that irks me to no end and is a direct result of CCL's hands on approach with the offensive gameplan. Offensive minded coaches working up a gameplan work inside-out and force the defense to defend the field from center point outwards (crossing routes, slants, etc). Mizzou went zero coverage times and split their safeties outside the hashes as they knew we wouldn't throw over the middle. This is a huge disadvantage for any young QB as they are limited to 2/3 of the field on drop back passes with each of the thirds on opposite sides of the field. It is also a disadvantage to receivers as defensive backs can put our receivers on their outside hip and not have to worry about the inside hip. Offensive minded coaches would cut the field in half and have that whole half visible to the QB. If CCL doesn't trust Lynch and Raih enough to allow them make the offensive gameplan, then he needs to hire someone he does trust. I absolutely love the demeanor of Lynch on the sideline and would also love to see him calling plays with "his" gameplan. His offense worked inside-out at CSU btw.

We may disagree on certain things but every point you made was spot on. We had our first TD to a TE today, and rarely hit them during the entire season. Today we finally got a TD to a TE on a shovel pass (so that doesn't really count but it was a good play call). The middle of the field behind the LB forces them to not stuff the box with S and LBs which would help the running game more "up the middle". Albeit running outside the tackles has been our best bet, why? Because all we do is throw outside. We just can't seem to attack the whole field and that has cost us big time against teams with the same talent deficiencies as we have. It's mind boggling how we limit ourselves on offense.

[Dorewithaflare]

You will see next year when about 30 people leave this team.

[SCSA]

I really don’t understand how anyone likes Clark Lea or has any trust in him.

[Doreknox]

Quite honestly, I thought no one could possibly be a dumber HC than CDM, but it seems his replacement is about as dumb as he was. The V instead of the star V is stupid. The OC fiasco shouldn't happen on a pee-wee team. much less in a college program. Lea's no transfer statement was ignorant. Running a complicated west coast offense with zone blocking is in vogue in the NFL, but it's a dumb choice for college team that is not very talented. Sorry folks, but all I see is CDM redux. I know the resident coach worshippers will be aghast at my opinion, but I am sick and tired of seeing our football program make the same dumb mistakes over and over.

[cc11316]

Obviously too early to judge CCL but I'm a bit curious how fans of a program that has won just 10 conference games since Franklin left after the 2013 season (just 1 since Shurmur graduated) and has the overall talent of a mediocre OVC team would expect more at this point. Perhaps learning to manage and temper one's expectations would be prudent.

Just be thankful there are 2 wins this season (could have been worse) and we're not caught in the circus of the first woman kicker fiasco. At least we're talking and seeing football on the field. Vandy was competitive with the 2 other worst teams in the league so that's enough for this year (for me). Next year, maybe an SEC win and the year after who knows.

[Johnmn555]

A reasonable expectation, even with the given personnel, would have been 4 wins, one over the FCS team, two over two of the worst teams in FBS, and one over one of the two worst SEC teams (SC and MO).

[SCSA]

It’s hard to simply blame the talent when then talent we have was obviously capable of 5 wins. Imagine how we’d be feeling on 5-4 right now It would’ve ended there, but we’d all have been ecstatic

Lea single handedly cost his team three wins and his program crucial momentum after just first year. You can’t simply sugarcoat that with “well we’re bad anyway”.

[Doreknox]

Obviously too early to judge CCL but I'm a bit curious how fans of a program that has won just 10 conference games since Franklin left after the 2013 season (just 1 since Shurmur graduated) and has the overall talent of a mediocre OVC team would expect more at this point. Perhaps learning to manage and temper one's expectations would be prudent.

It's definitely not too early to recognize mistakes and failures. In the real world, working people get judged a lot sooner than Lea. In TN you can fire an employee within their first 90 days without a reason. Lea has probably cost us three wins in 2021 because he doesn't know what he is doing. If he worked in the corporate world, Lea would be getting canned soon.

[katmai]

Unfortunately, I think Vanderbilt's only hope right now is that Lea is a quick learner, he makes some adjustments to his staff, and he somehow builds some momentum at the end of this season to build on. There is absolutely no way that Vanderbilt can fire Lea after one season. If you fire an alum after one season where they actually showed some improvement over the previous year, who in the world are you going to entice that you know would be better? I don't know who else Vanderbilt had realistic chances with last year, but this year is not the year for Vanderbilt to be looking for a new coach, with jobs like USC, LSU and others being available, and the inevitable dominoes associated with that,

[UltimateVUFan]

I don’t think anyone is outright advocating for Lea to be fired this season. I am pessimistic about his long term trajectory given the inauspicious start, but I also fully realize it would be institutional suicide to fire him in year one. However, if I’m extrapolating correctly, I think many people, myself included, are concerned with the fact that - despite a few W’s in the win column - the team doesn’t actually seem to be any better than it likely would have been under Mason yet again this year. While there is no way to know for certain, I think it actually may have been better under Mason. That is alarming considering Mason’s overall performance during his tenure. Fans are concerned that we ended up with Mason 2.0, and that may well decimate the program for eternity if it isn’t corrected fast. My hope would be that unlike Mason, Lea doesn’t get 7 years to show progress (or lack thereof). If he doesn’t demonstrate a remarkable learning curve, I don’t care that he’s an alumni. At the end of year 2, it should be made exceedingly clear to him that he is on the hot seat; especially considering the levels of institutional support that the University appears poised to give him, from which his predecessors did not benefit.

[OldDude]

You will see next year when about 30 people leave this team.

I have great concerns as well.

[Nashmann]

You will see next year when about 30 people leave this team.

I have great concerns as well.

If 30 players(not seniors) leave the program at the end of the year Lea should go right with them!! It would mean there is something wrong with Lea AND his staff!!!

[vandy05]

I'm going to blame Covid, but the level of irrationality in this thread is at levels I didn't think I would see in year 1 of a new regime at a historically challenged program. The ETSU loss was wholly inexcusable, but the number of folks who can seem so sure that Lea is not the guy after watching him coach for a little over half a season is very peculiar to me.

I'm not sure he is going to be the long-term solution, but not sure how someone can be so sure the other way. Its just too early to know either way.

[buffy]

Y'all are crazy. They've made plenty of mistakes. They've also made plenty of adjustments. I see a staff willing to throw anything at the problems they face. They have a clear culture but are not doctrinaire about the defense or offense. That's what I want. If we're getting smoked by Charleston Southern in year three, then by all means, sing a foamy mess of complaints.