Lea Promotes Three

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Clark Lea, Vanderbilt’s E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Football, announced a trio of promotions for members of his coaching staff Wednesday. Alex Bailey has been elevated to pass game coordinator, Larry Black to defensive run game coordinator and Jimmy Thompson will be stars and nickels coach.

Bailey will continue to coach the wide receivers while Black will remain in his position coaching the defensive line. Thompson adds nickels to his responsibilities after guiding the star position last year.

Bailey is entering his fourth season at Vanderbilt in 2025. He helped Quincy Skinner Jr., Junior Sherrill and Richie Hoskins develop over the past two seasons into the team’s leading receivers. Skinner and Sherrill tied for the team lead in receptions in 2024, while Hoskins was a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy and earned the award’s weekly honor after scoring one of his two touchdowns in a win at Kentucky.

Bailey has previous coaching stops at Colorado State, Ball State, Wayne (Mich.) State, Valparaiso, Dayton and Defiance. He played receiver at Youngstown State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He also holds a master’s degree in education and sport science from Defiance.

Black likewise enters his fourth season at Vandy this fall. His work with the defensive line helped the Commodores rushing defense improve from 104th nationally in 2023 to 52nd in 2024, while sacks jumped from 101st to 64th. He has been instrumental in the development of Khordae Sydnor, Yilanan Ouattara and Glenn Seabrooks III over recent seasons. Sydnor led the line in tackles for loss during his first season in Nashville last fall. Ouattara, a German who did not play football in the United States before arriving at Vanderbilt, had three tackles for loss over the last three games of the season and Seabrooks played in all 13 games as a true freshman.

Black’s previous stops include Toledo and Notre Dame, where he was a graduate assistant on the defensive staff coordinated by Lea which helped the Fighting Irish reach the College Football Playoff in 2018. The Cincinnati native played collegiately at Indiana.

Thompson has been on Lea’s staff since the beginning in Nashville, initially as a graduate assistant, then analyst and senior defensive analyst before spending 2024 as the stars coach working with the hybrid linebacker/safety position. Under Thompson’s guidance, Randon Fontenette emerged as one of the breakout defensive players in the SEC last season. Fontenette was third on the team with 73 tackles and tied for the team lead with eight tackles for loss. He added an interception and eight pass break-ups, 10th in the SEC.

Thompson started his collegiate coaching career in a quality control role at LSU before joining Lea’s inaugural Vandy staff. He played linebacker at Notre Dame for four seasons, including two where Lea served as his position coach, then coordinator.

The Commodores began spring practice on Tuesday in the run-up to the Black and Gold Spring Game on April 12 (1 p.m.) at FirstBank Stadium. The 2025 season begins on Aug. 30 when Charleston Southern visits. Season tickets are now available and limited premium seating options remain in the new south end zone facility, which debuts this fall.