Four Added to Football Staff

Two coaches hired, Jovan Haye retained, Barton Simmons and Nik Valdiserri join staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt head football coach Clark Lea announced Thursday the addition of Inoke Breckterfield and Justin Lustig to his coaching staff, Barton Simmons as the Commodores’ general manager and director of personnel, and Nik Valdiserri as the recruiting coordinator.

Breckterfield will be an assistant coach and mentor the defensive line. The former All-American comes to West End following six seasons overseeing the defensive line at Wisconsin. During his six years with the Badgers, the program went a combined 56-19 and claimed three Big Ten West Division titles and five bowl game wins, with three appearances in New Year’s Six bowls (Cotton, Orange, Rose).

Defensively with Breckterfield’s units applying the pressure, Wisconsin allowed an average of just 16.6 points/game and 107.7 rushing yards/game during his six years on staff.

A tenacious defensive end at Oregon State, Breckterfield finished his collegiate career as the Beavers’ career leader in tackles for loss (55.5) and sacks (19.5). As a senior in 1998, he was third team Associated Press All-America and received the Pac-10’s Morris Trophy Award as the top defensive lineman as voted on by the conference’s offensive linemen.

Lustig, the Commodores’ assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, arrives from Syracuse, where he spent the last four seasons. Lustig served as the Orange’s special teams coordinator all four seasons. He guided Syracuse running backs in 2017 before shifting to outside receivers from 2018-20. For the 2019-20 seasons, Lustig added assistant head coach responsibilities.

The 2021 season will mark Lustig’s 21st in college football. He has mentored 50 all-conference selections, including 2018 Lou Groza Award recipient Andre Szmyt. He has also coached in three bowl games, two FCA playoffs and three Division III playoffs.

With the Syracuse special teams units, the Orange led the ACC in net punting in each of Lustig’s first three years and finished in the top 10 nationally in 2019 (3rd; 43.03) and 2017 (10th; 41.3). During his four years on staff, the Orange averaged 43.7 yards/punt.

Simmons, in his role as general manger – director of personnel, will oversee roster development and play an integral role in recruiting and scouting. A Nashville native, Simmons worked for Rivals.com as a national analyst before moving over to 247Sports in 2010. He spent a decade in various lead roles for 247Sports’ scouting department.

For the last five recruiting cycles, Simmons oversaw the 247Sports’ rankings process. Some of the prospect rankings he was higher on than the rest of the industry during his career included Tyrann Matthieu, Henry Ruggs, DeVonta Smith, Tristan Wirfs and Ja’Marr Chase.

Simmons played high school football at Montgomery Bell Academy, where he was a teammate of Lea. Simmons was a two-time state champion in football and earned first team all-state honors. He went on to be a four-year starter as a defensive back at Yale, helping the Bulldogs to a combined record of 21-18, highlighted by a 34-24 win over Harvard in 2000. He earned second team All-Ivy accolades in 2002 and 2004.

Valdiserri spent the 2020 season with Bowling Green before arriving in Nashville. With the Commodores, Valdiserri’s responsibilities include organizing unofficial and official recruiting visits, directing the Commodores’ game day recruiting events, coordinating summer camps for high school prospects, and acting as a staff liaison with NFL personnel.

Prior to arriving at Bowling Green, Valdiserri was with the Notre Dame football program for three years (2017-19). After one year as a student assistant, he was involved in recruiting, operations and player personnel for the Fighting Irish. Among his responsibilities, Valdiserri was tasked with assisting in producing weekly advanced scouting reports, managing and evaluating prospect profiles, identifying schools and prospects for coach visits, organizing recruiting boards and supervising students.

Valdiserri, a Wilmette, Illinois, native, received his bachelor’s degree in film, television and theatre with a concentration in television from Notre Dame in 2018.

In addition to the new four, Lea announced Vanderbilt alum Jovan Haye will remain on staff and coach defensive ends. The 2021 season will mark Haye’s third as a full-time coach with the Commodores. In 2019 and 2020 he was the program’s defensive line coach while serving in a quality control role during the 2018 campaign.

Haye, a 2019 SEC Legend, was a two-time captain and All-SEC performer for the Commodores while starting 34 games on the defensive line from 2002-04.

As an All-SEC defensive end in 2003, he was a Nagurski Award and Hendricks Trophy candidate. He ended his Vanderbilt career with 11.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss among 149 tackles.

Haye was selected in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by Carolina. During his NFL career, Haye registered 6.5 quarterback sacks among 185 tackles.