NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Football Clark Lea has been announced as one of three finalists for the Walter Camp Football Bowl Subdivision Coach of the Year by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Thursday.
Lea—the two-time American Football Coaches Association Region 2 Coach of the Year—is in consideration for the honor along with Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Ryan Day of Ohio State, with the winner set to be announced on Dec. 10. The Commodores’ fifth-year head coach is also a semifinalist for the George Munger College Coach of the Year, and he remains a candidate for the Paul “Bear” Bryant and Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Awards as well.
Following a victory at No. 18/18 Tennessee on Saturday, Lea led Vandy to the first-ever 10-win season in program history this fall. The Dores ended the regular season 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC—the most wins the school has recorded since the conference’s inception in 1933—and are ranked No. 14 in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings as well as 13th in both the Associated Press and AFCA coaches’ polls. After never appearing in the AP’s rankings on more than four occasions in a single season prior to this year, the Commodores have been included in each of the last 12 editions of the poll.
Under Lea, Vandy climbed as high as No. 9 in the AP poll—the program’s highest rank since the 1937 campaign—and owns three wins over top-15 opponents, a total that equals the number of nationally-ranked victories the Commodores had earned the previous 11 seasons combined.
He also guided the Dores to their first undefeated record at home since 1982 after Vandy went 7-0 at FirstBank Stadium this fall.
