2025/2026 Coaching Carousel

#126
#126
SpookyAction said:
I think Clark Lea is making Vandy a better job (for him) than VA Tech. Lea isn't leaving the Dores for an ordinary job like the Hokies.

I think he might figure out it is better to be the King in Nashville than the next sacrificial lamb in Blacksburg. He could be on a trajectory to become Vandy's General Neyland if he leads them to bowl games consistently. When 6-6 is good enough, he can really become "the Man". I think he will stay, unless he gets an offer from a "special" program like Notre Dame or one of the elite B1G schools.

He can sell the Kool-Aid because he is loudly leading toasts and drinking it himself.
Clark Lea has been a breathe of fresh air on the West End.
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Lea has to be in the top 3 for the UF job (along with Lebby and Patricia). With a couple more losses by Kelly, he could wind up at LSU! Tiger fans are looking for an upgrade.
 
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#127
#127
LAVol1 said:
Lea has to be in the top 3 for the UF job (along with Lebby and Patricia). With a couple more losses by Kelly, he could wind up at LSU! Tiger fans are looking for an upgrade.
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Clark Lea could make some noise at a blue blood program like LSU. I want him building Vandy rather than crushing it with a bigger team.
 
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#128
#128
Buyouts will play a major role in the coaching carousel:

Franklin: $50M (+ they would probably have to buy out DC Knowles at a min. of $3M)
Napier: $19.3
Kelly: >$50M (est)

Lea: $13-15M
Lebby: $6.2-7.7M
Patricia: Likely $0 to leave for a HC job

Kind of looks like Franklin and Kelly aren't going anywhere unless they agree to significantly less in their buyouts.
 
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#129
#129
LAVol1 said:
Lea has to be in the top 3 for the UF job (along with Lebby and Patricia). With a couple more losses by Kelly, he could wind up at LSU! Tiger fans are looking for an upgrade.
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Is this a serious post?

CLARK LEA? lol
 
#131
#131
LAVol1 said:
Well, yeah. Vandy, with less resources than most any P5 team, is competitive against everyone they play. What makes you think he's not a really good coach? You seem to be the only one laughing.
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Clark Lea is 21-34 at Vandy (6-28 in the SEC) and has a worse record there than Derek Mason did

He's lost to ETSU and Georgia State.

He's an awful coach with mediocre players

He will be lucky to go 7-5 this season
 
#132
#132
LAVol1 said:
Lea has to be in the top 3 for the UF job (along with Lebby and Patricia). With a couple more losses by Kelly, he could wind up at LSU! Tiger fans are looking for an upgrade.
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Lebby has done exactly what to be considered for a bigger program?

He has yet to win a SEC game.

They are likely to finish around 6-7 win mark yet he’s some hot coach?
 
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#133
#133
LAVol1 said:
Lea has to be in the top 3 for the UF job (along with Lebby and Patricia). With a couple more losses by Kelly, he could wind up at LSU! Tiger fans are looking for an upgrade.
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Also regarding Lea, he’s coaching at his Alma mater. As long as Vandy invests into the program and NIL, he’s not jumping ship even if he should.

Similar to Kiffin at Ole Miss. it’s a great situation and not tons of pressure to go 11-1/12-0.

Vandy even less pressure. So as long as they are paying good money and making investments, what are the upgrades for Lea at Florida with a chaotic administration?
 
#134
#134
JMSqb11 said:
Also regarding Lea, he’s coaching at his Alma mater. As long as Vandy invests into the program and NIL, he’s not jumping ship even if he should.

Similar to Kiffin at Ole Miss. it’s a great situation and not tons of pressure to go 11-1/12-0.

Vandy even less pressure. So as long as they are paying good money and making investments, what are the upgrades for Lea at Florida with a chaotic administration?
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I was just in Nashville recently and drove by their facilities. They are way nicer than they were 20 years ago.
 
#136
#136
Boston Vol said:
I know. But athletic directors have a tendency to hire the opposite of their last failed hire. So I wouldn’t certainly expect them to go the current head coach route.
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Pretty unusual for an AD to survive two failed coaching hires and get to try again.
 
#137
#137
PEPPERJAX said:
Tech was paying Pry 4.75 million a year to be horrible. Clark Lea made a little over 3 mil last year. You think Tech has him on their list of candidates?
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I wish…it would be great to see some good football at VT for a change.
 
#139
#139
I think there is going to have to be some coaching shuffling going on. and not just when the new guy gets hired away from a school. I think some of the guys who get fired are going to get job offers by the end of the season.

Someone will definitely hire Franklin. I could see VTech hiring him. UCLA would be hilarious. and if ark doesn't stick with petrino I could even see them grabbing him up.
 
#140
#140
Botch and his Ark St team are currently losing to South Alabama.

This would drop them to 2-5 unless they change their fortunes in this game.

At what point do they fire Sgt Carter?
 
#142
#142
RandomUTfan said:
He sort of forced Florida to hire him. He asked them for more resources so he could win at a higher clip, they balked. He saw the writing on the wall and earned his buyout. Florida fans only ever complained about Mullen's recruiting. And he won there with what he had!

Mullen was trying to get Florida to invest more resources into recruiting so he COULD recruit better. And any coach in the country who wants inside information on the clustereff that is the Florida UAA will call Dan Mullen prior to taking a job there. That's a black eye. It's why they were forced to hire Napier and give him such a ridiculous contract they still refuse to pay what it would take to get rid of him.
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He thought he was going to get an NFL job after the 2020 season, didn't, and mailed in the 2021 season. Specifically, I think something negative internally happened the week of the UK game (conveniently right after they played us).
 
#144
#144
Rickyvol77 said:
Clark Lea is 21-34 at Vandy (6-28 in the SEC) and has a worse record there than Derek Mason did

He's lost to ETSU and Georgia State.

He's an awful coach with mediocre players

He will be lucky to go 7-5 this season
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The lack of nuance you have in regards to critiquing college football coaches is pretty astonishing.

If we went by your criteria, there would be may be 15-20 "good" head coaches in the nation.

Clark Lea is doing a very good job given where he is. Vandy is perennial bottom dweller. And yet, they have now been ranked in 7 of the last 14 polls. The last time they were ranked at all was 2013. That doesn't mean he is an elite coach or anything, but he's absolutely not an awful coach.
 
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#145
#145
SpookyAction said:
Clark Lea could make some noise at a blue blood program like LSU. I want him building Vandy rather than crushing it with a bigger team.
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I don't think Lea is leaving Vandy. He's played at Vandy and has zero pressure to win really anything. New age in CFB and these traditionally below average teams are going to get better if the money/coaching is there. I.E. Indiana, Texas Tech. I think Vandy is going to be pretty solid with him at helm.
 
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#146
#146
05_never_again said:
And who hired Kill?

Pavia is undoubtedly the straw that stirs their drink, but they play good D too, and that is because of Lea.
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Agreeed. He also brought in Pavia, so shouldn't he get credit for that? We are 5-1 this year mostly because of Joey, so does Heup get credit for that?

Vandy's rushing attack in general has been amazing this year. They are 4th in the SEC and their top 3 RBs are averaging over 6 yards per carry.
 
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#147
#147
TC 83 said:
I don't think Lea is leaving Vandy. He's played at Vandy and has zero pressure to win really anything. New age in CFB and these traditionally below average teams are going to get better if the money/coaching is there. I.E. Indiana, Texas Tech. I think Vandy is going to be pretty solid with him at helm.
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If a true elite school comes calling, like Michigan, Penn State, etc, I could see him leaving. But he isn't leaving for Florida.
 
#148
#148
05_never_again said:
He thought he was going to get an NFL job after the 2020 season, didn't, and mailed in the 2021 season. Specifically, I think something negative internally happened the week of the UK game (conveniently right after they played us).
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Informed Florida fans think that he went to the UAA for more resources because he was already winning at a high clip and the freaking fan base was still on his back because they weren't bringing in top 5 classes. They said the money wasn't there and he mailed it in completely after that. He sort of self-sabotaged and it was clear he was begging them to fire him. Still makes 1 mil annually from UAA coffers. That's hilarious to me.
 
#149
#149
05_never_again said:
And who hired Kill?

Pavia is undoubtedly the straw that stirs their drink, but they play good D too, and that is because of Lea.
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I think what people miss who say "Well after Pavia is gone..." or "It's just because he has Kill. When KIll leaves..." are totally missing the fact (perhaps on purpose) that Vanderbilt GAVE Lea the money to go out and get those coaches he got, and bring in some good transfers, not limited to Pavia. It represents a new investment into athletics and if you've been by Vandy's campus recently, you see that investment materializing. Their facilities are miles better than 10 years ago and they are continuing to build on and improve what is there. It's CRAZY to me. I grew up in Nashville and Vanderbilt has NEVER cared about Sports. I think they had one major donor who donated to Sports and it wasn't a ton. But Nashville is a great place to have your SEC School in the NIL era. Lots of opportunities for NIL and Investment into Athletics. I don't know where all the money is coming from. I haven't followed that closely. I just see the material results.
 
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#150
#150
Carp said:
If a true elite school comes calling, like Michigan, Penn State, etc, I could see him leaving. But he isn't leaving for Florida.
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Maybe, but then again, I think the pull of coaching your alma mater and low expectations is pretty priceless this day in age. I think if you're a good coach and have a little bit of financial backing you can win anywhere, and Vandy has money in the coffers. I would also consider UF more elite than PSU...any day. Maybe not over 50 years, but certainly since the 90's.
 
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