BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt defensive standouts LaDarius Wiley and Charles Wright have been named to the Preseason Coaches All-Southeastern Conference team.
Wiley, a first-year graduate student and two-year starting safety from Los Angeles, Calif., and Wright, a redshirt senior outside linebacker from Irvine, Calif., earned preseason third-team All-SEC recognition from the league’s 14 head coaches.
Wiley, Wright and the Commodores open the regular season on Saturday, Sept. 1, hosting Middle Tennessee in Vanderbilt Stadium. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and are available here.
Wiley is the Commodores’ most experienced player in the defensive secondary, having started 19 games in 37 career appearances. Wiley also enters his final year after having led the Vanderbilt defense with 58 solo stops and 88 total tackles in 2017. He also contributed four defensed passes, a forced fumble and interception a year ago.
Wright, who was named as a preseason all-conference performer following SEC Media Days in July, is coming off a superb junior campaign when he lead the Vanderbilt defense with nine quarterback sacks, the most by a Commodore player since Alan Young set the team record with 12 sacks in 1993.
Wright, who also registered 43 total tackles and four quarterback hurries last year, has been named to the preseason watch list for the Bednarik Award, presented annually to college football’s defensive player of the year.
