NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt University and Wake Forest University are separated by about 450 miles. Their respective football programs are not separated by much at all when it comes to familiarity and relationships.
Second-year Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea will face one of his former employers at 11 a.m. Saturday when the Demon Deacons take the field at FirstBank Stadium. Lea spent the 2016 season at Wake Forest as the program’s linebackers coach and helped guide the team to a 7-6 record and Military Bowl victory over Clemson.
Lea also coached linebackers during the 2012 season at Bowling Green where Dave Clawson was the head coach. Clawson is the head coach at Wake Forest, a position he has held since 2013.
“I know Clark well. He will maximize Vanderbilt football, but they also have a great staff,” Clawson said this week during his weekly news conference. “He’s done a great job of hiring coaches, and right away stole some from us. Clark has hired a great staff, they have a veteran team and this will be a very challenging game for us.”
Lea is also familiar with Wake Forest offense coordinator Warren Ruggiero. Lea said Tuesday that while the two were at Bowling Green in 2012 they were roommates before being reunited in 2016 when both resided in Winston-Salem and coached the Demon Deacons.
“Warren would wake up every morning at five o’clock in the morning and have his coffee and he’d have his yellow legal pad out and I’d always ask him what he was doing,” Lea said. “He was drawing up plays. It took me some time to realize his genius in play design.”
Wake, There’s More
One of Lea’s first hires when he took over the Commodores in December of 2020 was Brandon Hourigan.
Now Vanderbilt football’s director of strength and conditioning, Hourigan was at Bowling Green with Clawson from 2011-13 and then followed Clawson to Wake Forest where he worked until becoming a Commodore early in 2021. Hourigan’s assistant at Vandy, Demetrius Kemp, played linebacker for the Demon Deacons from 2015-18.
Lea also brought on Ben Cauthen to his staff in 2021. Cauthen was a video coordinator at Wake Forest for seven years.
Finally, during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Lea coached against Wake Forest while at Notre Dame. Lea went 2-0 in those matchups with victories of 48-37 and 56-27, respectively.
Inside the Series
Saturday’s showdown will mark the 17th meeting in a series that dates to 1964, a 9-6 win by the Commodores in Nashville. Dick Lemay, a backup offensive tackle, kicked field goals of 45, 39 and 26 yards.
Wake Forest got revenge the following season with a 7-0 triumph in Winston-Salem.
Vandy swept a home-and-home in 1976-77 before losing single games in Nashville in 1990 and 1992. But then the Dores reeled off four wins in a from in 1993, 1994, 2000 and 2005.
In the latter contest, current Vanderbilt director of player development Earl Bennett had one catch for 28 yards. Two years later, in a 31-17 Wake Forest victory, Bennett made six grabs for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Almost 10 years ago, in a game played in November, Vandy walloped Wake Forest 55-21 thanks to 229 passing yards and two scores from quarterback Jordan Rodgers and 144 receiving yards and a touchdown by Jordan Matthews. Rodgers will be on campus this weekend to be honored as one of the top 100 Commodores in the history of Vanderbilt Stadium.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
