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Vandy Spring Football Notebook

Vanderbilt holds its annual spring game Saturday at 11 a.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just three workouts remain for the Vanderbilt football team before Saturday’s 11 a.m. spring game. The Commodores will practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday leading into live Saturday coverage on SEC Network+.

SPRING GAME OPEN
Vanderbilt will allow a limited number of fans at this Saturday’s 11 a.m. spring game. Attendance will be on a first-come, first-serve basis and admission is free. Gates open at 10:30 a.m.

SECOND SPRING SCRIMMAGE
Prior to Saturday’s spring game, the Commodores returned to Vanderbilt Stadium for their second scrimmage of the spring.


Friday Night Lights by Vanderbilt Athletics on Exposure

Vandy scrimmaged for approximately 90 minutes Friday under the lights marking its first game action in the stadium since December.

BRECKTERFIELD BONDING WITH LINE
Defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield is in his first spring mentoring Commodore linemen.

Breckterfield joined Vanderbilt after six seasons at Wisconsin where he oversaw the defensive line. During Breckterfield’s 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 per game and 107.7 rushing yards per game during his tenure.

Prior to his time as a Badger, Breckterfield tutored the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle Aaron Donald. While at Pittsburgh with Breckterfield, Donald was the recipient of the 2013 Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Outland Trophy. Donald has gone on to become a seven-time NFL Pro Bowl selection and three-time Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year.

 

FOOTBALL IS FAMILY
Vanderbilt has had a few very young guests out at spring workouts this fall, including Clark Lea III. A number of Commodore coaches have young children acclimating to Nashville.

“It’s not only important for us and our roles as parents, it’s also important for our team to see that, too. I think the players appreciate that,” head coach Clark Lea said. “It humanizes us. We can get feeling some kind of way about how important we are at times. Then to have to our families around puts us in our place.

“It’s a special part of the relationship we want to make sure we’re fostering here. We have a lot of young families on our staff, which will bring a lot of energy to the operation.”

Last Thursday’s practice was also tabbed Doughnut Day. Children of coaches and staff who were not in school came out to the end of the session to see their parents at work.

 

BLAZEK ON THE MIC
Offensive line coach AJ Blazek has enjoyed his first spring with the Commodores and getting around his offensive linemen.

Last Tuesday, he was wired for sound during the team’s ninth workout.

Blazek brought to West End with him 19 years of collegiate experience and won a national title at North Dakota State during the 2019 campaign. That season his offensive line unit helped the Bison set a school-record with 4,601 rushing yards. North Dakota State posted a 16-0 record in 2019, won their ninth consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and captured their eighth NCAA FCS national title in nine years.

THE LAST SPRING PUSH
As the Commodores enter the final stretch of the spring season, the team’s focus remains the same.

“We’re forming a team through practice, through adversity. That takes time,” Lea said. “It’s less about scheme and more about the attitude, the energy and the enthusiasm. Ultimately for us, this spring will be the most truncated (playbook) install that we’ll have. It needs to be a foundation that we can build on through the summer and into the fall.”

The attitude, effort and energy have been continually trending in a direction Lea likes seeing. Vandy has the opportunity to showcase all it has learned Saturday during the spring game.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets for the 2021 campaign remain on sale.

Fans who wish to renew their season tickets at the spring game on site can do so at Gate 3 from 10 a.m. until halftime. Individuals who renew Saturday, or those who renewed prior but are in attendance, can enter a raffle to win one of a variety of prizes from Vanderbilt football.

Ticketing highlights for the upcoming season include:

  • Season ticket price adjustments in all areas of the stadium, with some sections seeing a 29 percent decrease, but no section seeing greater than a 10 percent increase.
  • Per-seat gift components return to season tickets. The per-seat gift is included in the price of the season ticket and is not an additional fee or expense.
  • A portion of each season ticket purchase will count towards a gift to the National Commodore Club, making every season ticket holder a Vanderbilt donor. To learn more, click here.
  • A family season ticket package, which includes two adult and two youth season tickets for $475.
  • An option for a youth season ticket for those 17 years of age or younger.
  • A choice for young alumni, available to all graduates within the last five years.

OPENING DORES
Former Commodore and current Director of Player Development Earl Bennett has been catching up with fellow Vanderbilt alumni this spring in a series called Opening Dores.

Once a week, Bennett sits down through Zoom for a conversation with former Commodores about their time on West End, how it prepared them for life after football and where their current professions have them.

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