Look out, Mizzou, Vanderbilt is becoming less terrible at football: Tipsheet

10 hrs ago
Vanderbilt’s presence in the Southeastern Conference has offered Missouri a bit of relief from the uphill battle the Tigers have faced since joining the hyper-competitive league.
While Mizzou’s resources have paled compared to the upper-tier SEC programs, poor Vanderbilt has operated at an American Athletic Conference level or worse – leaving the Commodores totally outmanned.
The Tigers have won eight of their last 10 games against the Commodores, who have provided one of the few soft spots their SEC schedule.
Ah, but progress is being made in Nashville. Coach Clark Lea opened his tenure with a 2-10 finish, then he improved to 5-7 in Year 2 and retained many key players for Year 3.
“I hope that this season reveals the power of retention, retaining players, retaining systems, retaining staff familiarity, deepening relationships, deepening understandings,” Lea told ESPN.com. “That's really what makes me most excited about what's ahead of us.”
He just got a contract extension through 2029. That deal should allow him to reap the benefits of Vanderbilt’s ongoing stadium upgrades and improved facilities for athletes in all sports there.
The Commodores needed to really step up their game with Texas and Oklahoma coming into the SEC to make the conference even more ridiculous.
“I would not have chosen to come here if I didn't know the commitment would be there,” Lea told ESPN.com. “I think sometimes because I know what that commitment is and I believe in it, sometimes it feels a little lonely when you're pushing that narrative without the visual representation of. So I think the construction is something that we can point out externally to say this is happening, now's the time.”
Rather than expand the seating capacity at FirstBank Stadium, the school will decrease it from 40,000 to 34,000 while building in more premium club seating for its well-heeled boosters. The construction will continue through this season and get Vandy ready for 2024.
So here’s the pitch to football recruits:
Lea is an up-and-coming head coach with a vision for program building.
Vandy features elite academics.
Nashville offers remarkable nightlife.
The Commodores play in the SEC, college football’s biggest stage.
Seriously now, we’re talking Nashville here, not Starkville.
Writing for ESPN.com, Pete Thamel summed up the new vibe in Vandy:
Some of the root of Lea's boundless Commodores optimism is coming to life. There's a massive, sprawling and noisy athletic facility overhaul underway at Vanderbilt -- known as Vandy United -- that projects to cost somewhere between $600 million and $700 million. It should deliver Vanderbilt the type of facilities that match the quality of the education on campus. While Vandy United will touch every sport at Vanderbilt, the significant upgrades to every aspect of the football program's infrastructure and stadium are signs that, finally, Vanderbilt is committed to being more than an attractive weekend getaway for opposing SEC fans.
Here is what folks were writing about SEC Media Days:
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports: “Eli Drinkwitz hasn't had a winning season yet with the Tigers, but has the backing of boosters and his administration. That likely changes in 2023 given the wealth of returning production on both sides, especially defense. This is a ‘teeter’ season, we'll call it. Should Missouri squander an opportunity at surpassing seven or eight wins and stumble to another 6-7 type finish, there's going to be a collective eye roll in CoMo knowing Drinkwitz is under contract for the foreseeable future.”
Matt Hayes, Saturday Down South: “I don’t know if (Jimbo) Fisher and (Bobby) Petrino know this, but in a room full of the biggest egos in college football, Fisher and Petrino stand alone. If only because there’s no room for anyone else. Now imagine those 2 men trying to share play-calling duties at Texas A&M, which — God love the good folks in College Station — has done everything Fisher wanted since giving him bags of guaranteed money to leave FSU after the 2017 season. And gotten very little in return. We’re either in the early stages of Fisher and Petrino filing their egos and working together for the good of the whole — or getting ready to witness spectacular destruction this fall. At one point, after Fisher left the main stage and worked his way through various stops in the Media Days tour — and after numerous questions about the dynamics of the offense — he finally blurted out, as only Jimbo can do, ‘We’ll work it through.’ This is the same coach who last weekend failed to show up at the annual Texas High School Coaches Association meeting. He left word with organizers that he had a ‘family commitment.’ There are more than 17,000 coaches at the annual event, and a Who’s Who of college coaches attend to show support — and to shake hands with coaches of some of the best high school talent in the nation. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was there. Heck, former Texas and current North Carolina coach Mack Brown was, too. What does that have to do with who’s calling plays this fall? Nothing. And everything. Because if it all goes sideways, and those 2 massive egos can’t find a way to coexist, it will also begin to unravel for Fisher at the organic level with high school recruiting.”
Chip Patterson, CBSSports.com: “A lot of weight for (coach Billy) Napier's popularity among Florida fans falls the 2024 recruiting class, which is off to a fantastic start -- currently ranking No. 3 in the country. But after a 6-7 debut and the Jaden Rashada saga in last year's recruiting cycle, the Gators need to deliver some positivity on the field to keep those recruits on board through National Signing Day. No one is asking Florida to contend for the playoff, especially with one of the country's toughest schedules, but staying competitive against the good teams and avoiding bad losses are necessary to quiet early-tenure frustrations.”
Jesse Simonton, On3.com: “LSU took center stage on Day 1 of 2023 SEC Media Days, and while Brian Kelly and quarterback Jayden Daniels were the headliners for the reigning West Division champions, the most discussed Tiger was a budding sophomore lifting weights some 600 miles away in Baton Rouge. Get ready for the Year of Harold Perkins Jr. . . . LSU allowed just 22.3 points per game last season, but the rest of the Tigers’ defensive metrics were mostly middling. They could flash excellence, but consistency was lacking. That might change this year. Not only is Perkins expected to make a second-year leap. But the Tigers get former 5-star recruit and Top 10 prospect Maason Smith back at defensive tackle. Smith tore his ACL very early in the Week 1 loss to Florida State last season. He and Perkins have barely ever played together. Now, LSU gets to pair the two athletic freaks, allowing a guy like Mekhi Wingo, a former Freshman All-American who had 6.0 tackles for loss last season, even more room to create havoc. By season’s end, the Tigers could legitimately have the two best individual defensive players in the SEC this fall.”
Mitch Kaiser, Pro Football Focus: “Scoring points will not be the issue for Arkansas in 2023; it's their defense. They allowed an average of 29 points per game last year but have a solid pair of defensive backs returning in Dwight McGlothern and Hudson Clark, both of whom could make massive strides to improve this secondary. They’re going to have to if they want to compete, as the Razorbacks' pass defense ranked in the bottom 15 in 2022. Arkansas . . . . (has0 an elite offense led by KJ Jefferson, one of the most underrated quarterbacks in college football. He was one of only nine Power Five quarterbacks to earn a 90.0-plus grade last season. Bowling Green transfer Tyrone Bolden should help the passing attack, and Raheim Sanders, who ran for more than 1,400 yards in 2022, will also be back for the Razorbacks. Any SEC schedule is daunting, but Jefferson could turn some heads this year. He’s a dark-horse Heisman candidate. And if he plays like that, it’s going to lead to a lot of wins for the Hogs.”
Bill Connelly, ESPN.com: “Shane Beamer is the master of optics. His first two South Carolina teams produced particularly good performances at the best possible times, generating solid buzz in the process. In 2021, his Gamecocks went 7-6 with four losses by 25-plus points, but they thumped Florida, won the Duke's Mayo Bowl by 17 points and signed blue-chip quarterback transfer Spencer Rattler, and Beamer took the most famous bath of the season. In 2022, the Gamecocks lost four games by double digits (including three to .500ish Arkansas, Missouri and Florida teams) but finished the regular season by pummeling Tennessee and ending a seven-game losing streak to Clemson. Beamer's two seasons featured one good defense (2021), one good offense (2022) and almost nonstop special teams excellence. Thanks to the combination of Beamer's last name and a dynamite special teams coordinator in Pete Lembo, that last part probably isn't going to change. But both the offense and defense are difficult to read heading into 2023.”
MEGAPHONE
“Winning. I think some of this stuff gets too existential. I like having a job. I’ve got a wife and two kids, so I got to have a job. In this job, you don’t keep your job unless you win.”
Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett, on what motivates him.