Issa Ouattara injury update: Clark Lea reveals season-ending surgery for Vanderbilt DL

As Vanderbilt climbs into the top 10 of the national polls and looks to sustain its run, it’ll have to do so without a key piece defensively. Defensive lineman Issa Ouattara is now out for the year with a shoulder injury.

Head coach Clark Lea revealed the new diagnosis on Tuesday. He provided more.

“Also want to update on the injury front, Issa Ouattara has opted for surgery, so that’ll rule him out for the remainder of the season,” Lea said. “That’s a shoulder injury that just never quite was able to heal to the point where he felt comfortable, we felt comfortable with him going out there.”

Ouattara began the year hurt, but he was able to return in time for a Week 2 game against Virginia Tech. He tallied one tackle in that contest before suffering a shoulder injury.

Vanderbilt temporarily shelved him, hoping to get him back after a few weeks of rest and recovery. But the shoulder just wasn’t responding right.

Now Issa Ouattara will have surgery on it to repair it. That will leave the Commodores without a very productive player up front, though one it has been playing without for weeks now.

“I’m excited for him to start the process of actually recovering,” Lea said. “Though, you know, we’ll miss the possibility of him being out there to help us win. Issa’s such an important part of our program. Voted captain by his teammates. He’s been so engaged, even as he hasn’t been able to participate. And he’ll continue to be that way, continue to be a captain for us. But did want to provide that update.”

Issa Ouattara has suited up for Vanderbilt for the past four seasons. He has recorded 17 career starts in 34 games. During that time, he has tallied 48 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, a fumble recovery, four pass breakups and four passes defended.

He was coming off a breakout campaign in 2024, though. Ouattara recorded a career-best 31 tackles, 5.0 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, a fumble recovery, two pass breakups and two passes defended.

Prior to enrolling at Vanderbilt, Issa Ouattara was ranked as a three-star prospect in the On3 Consensus. He was ranked as the No. 1,060 overall player in the 2022 class, as well as the No. 116 defensive lineman in the class.