Notre Dame's Clark Lea expected to be hired as new Vanderbilt football coach
Vanderbilt is expected to hire Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea as its new football coach with final details being worked out, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Tennessean. The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the hire.
Vanderbilt's official announcement could come as early as today. Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports was the first to report it.
Lea, 38, is a Nashville native and former Commodores player. He graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy, played baseball at Birmingham-Southern and Belmont and then walked on at Vanderbilt to play football. He's also a friend of Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin.
Lea knows the Vanderbilt program, and he’s been a successful assistant coach at premier programs. Before serving as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, Lea was a linebackers coach at Wake Forest, Syracuse, Bowling Green and UCLA.
Lea replaces Derek Mason, who was fired on Nov. 29. He had a 27-55 record in seven seasons, along with two bowl appearances and three wins over rival Tennessee.
Lea steps into one of the toughest jobs in Power Five conferences. Vanderbilt needs facility upgrades. Its high academic standards provide a smaller recruiting pool than other SEC programs, and, historically, winning has been difficult.
Since 1953, only two of the last 14 coaches left Vanderbilt with a winning record. Steve Sloan went 12-9-2 in 1973-74 and left for Texas Tech. James Franklin went 24-15 in 2011-13 and took the Penn State job.
Lea would need to hire a staff and solidify Vanderbilt's recruiting class with the early signing period beginning Wednesday. According to 247Sports.com, the Commodores have 20 commitments, ranked 13th in the SEC and 49th nationally.
On Nov. 30, athletics director Candice Lee said she was looking for a coach with “a demonstrated ability to run a program,” and a good offensive plan. Lea has never been a head coach, and he's a defensive coordinator.
Lee said the head coach didn't have to be an offensive coach, but he needed a strong offensive coordinator on his staff. Vanderbilt has a building block in quarterback Ken Seals, who broke the program's freshman passing record this season.
Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.