NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt will open spring football practice Feb. 27 while the Black and Gold Spring Game is slated for March 30 at Vanderbilt Stadium, as the Commodores continue to prepare for their sixth season under head coach Derek Mason.
Start time and broadcast details for the Black and Gold Spring Game will be released at a later date.
Vanderbilt’s NFL Pro Day, which features draft-eligible Commodores performing position drills and tests of speed, agility and strength on campus in front of NFL scouts, is scheduled for March 12.
The Commodores return 14 starters from the 2018 squad that advanced to the ninth bowl appearance in program history with late-season victories over Southeastern Conference opponents Arkansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
The list of returnees include a trio of offensive All-America candidates in running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, tight end Jared Pinkney and wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb, who combined to register 1,319 rushing yards, 150 receptions, 1,860 receiving yards and 31 total touchdowns last year.
Vaughn, who topped the SEC by averaging 7.9 yards/rush in his first season as a Commodore back, finished the year with a 243-yard rushing performance against Baylor in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl. The effort was the second highest single-game rushing total in team history.
In their careers, Lipscomb and Pinkney have combined for 246 yards, 3,172 receiving yards and 31 touchdown catches. Lipscomb topped the SEC last year with 87 receptions. Pinkney posted 50 receptions, the most by a Vanderbilt tight end since All-American Chuck Scott had 54 catches in 1984.
The Commodores will open the 2019 season by hosting the Georgia Bulldogs in Vanderbilt Stadium on Aug. 31.
