Clark Lea on Vanderbilt's development: 'Results sometimes can be deceiving'

Vanderbilt did not claim a win during conference action this past season. After defeating Kentucky and Florida in consecutive weeks in November 2022, fans were excited about what the new year had to bring. It resulted in a two-win season for the second time in two years.

Despite their finish in 2023, Commodores head coach Clark Lea says the past two seasons have taught him a lot as a head coach.

“There was a point at which from 2022 to 2023 where we’d won four or five games and I think in so many ways, we enjoyed that little stretch,” Lea said during an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday. “I think results sometimes can be deceiving and I’ve learned a lot about the process and paying attention to the things that ultimately impact the play on the field.”

After upsetting Kentucky and Florida, Vanderbilt had a chance to earn its first bowl berth since 2018 but was halted by in-state rival Tennessee during the season finale, ending their season at 5-7 despite the late rally.

Vanderbilt was 2-0 to begin the 2023 college football season with wins over Hawaii and Alabama A&M, meaning they had won four of their last five games between November 2022 and September 2023, a strong showing for the ‘Dores — until they proceeded to lose their next 10 games.

“We weren’t playing very well. And unfortunately, we weren’t able to correct that quickly enough to redirect our season,” Lea continued. “There are a lot of factors in that. I think the middle stretch there between Wake Forest, UNLV and Kentucky where we turned the ball over 10 times. Four of those went back for touchdowns. That’s not a formula for anyone to win, but certainly, that’s not a formula for us at Vanderbilt.

“We have to play the game better and ultimately, that’s what my focus has been on this offseason. We’ve made a bunch of changes here to help redirect and grab back the momentum that we had there for a stretch. And I think success is seldom linear.”

Lea believes the story of the 2023 Vanderbilt football team can be one where it taught the ‘Dores about what they needed to do to go deeper in their process. The Vandy headman believes his squad has come out of it evolved and ready to move forward and continue its climb to SEC relevancy.