Can Vandy be the prime example for O'Brien & BC?
We’ve all done it.
We’re all trying to find the team that’s had success in a similar money and admissions position as BC is in. Sure, Indiana would be nice, but in reality, BC and Notre Dame are in classes of their own.
However, one school that doesn’t really get mentioned when it comes to a possible positive blue print for the Eagles is Vanderbilt.
In 2023, the Commodores went 2-10. Sound familiar?
On Friday night, Vandy head coach Clark Lea was one of two keynote speakers at the MHSFCA Coaches Clinic. The speech had nothing to do with X’s and O’s. Not one clip. Instead, Lea talked for over an hour about the mental approach in various situations.
One thing that really stood out was the way he approached things after that 2-10 season. A lot of what he said sounds a lot like what O’Brien was doing in 2025.
“In 2023 off a 2-10 season, I had to look myself in the mirror and say ‘you know something Clark? This may not work out. All the dreams and visions you had for success, this might actually end up being a story of failure.’ You start to come to grips with that,” he said. “You start to come to grips with the fact that ‘I might lose my job.’ Not that anyone was insulting that in our building, but it’s the reality of a lack of performance.
“So, what I do, is I take that and say ‘ok. I’m not going to worry about that. It’s out of my control. I’m going to be really proud of what’s on film.’ When I see our team play, I want to be proud…not just that we played hard, but I want us to play smart. I want us to execute. Execution is structure plus intensity. I want to have a team on the field that knows what the f**k they are doing.
“They’re well-taught, they’re well-trained, they’re competitive.”
Lea also addressed how he and the Commodores handle the NIL Era. Once again, seemingly talking the same language that O’Brien and the rest of the BC staff have been, preaching culture over everything.
“These NIL issues are real,” Lea added. “So, if left to its own device, our locker room would resemble our world. Our world is divided based off socioeconomic status, yes? So, you’ve got rich people here, you’ve got kind of the middle class here and lower class here. That is a recipe for disaster. You’ve got the $1 million dollar club there, here’s your $500,000 guys here. Here’s the $250,000, here’s the $100,000, oh these guys don’t even get paid shit…
“I watched today in our weight room there were five platforms in front of squat racks around our weight room. I’m looking at a platform and the team…we lift in two groups. The entire team is around this platform. They were screaming. I was like, ‘who is on that platform?’ By the way, the guy that was on this platform went for five reps and he had a lot of weight on the bar. And then, he did plus two, which was beautiful. I love that attitude of like, ‘man, F it, I feel good, I’m going to keep going down.’ They’re screaming for him, he gets off, he finishes and I look and it’s our walk-on long snapper.”
So, it sure seems like BC has been taking the right approach if we’re comparing them to another program that was just in the same situation – relatively speaking – a few years ago. Lea also mentioned he had about 20 new faces after that 2023 season. Again, sound familiar?
Vandy and BC are certainly not apples to apples, but listening to Clark on Friday gave me some renewed hope for the Eagles this season.
