NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea expressed plenty of confidence the past two summers at Southeastern Conference Media Days.
It was more of the same Tuesday, but this time with proof.
The Commodores entered last season on a 21-game SEC losing streak, which grew to 26 until they snapped the skid with a 24-21 upset triumph at Kentucky. Vanderbilt returned home the following week and stunned Florida 31-24, but a third such victory became out of the question when Tennessee traveled to Nashville and applied a 56-0 trampling.
Still, the Commodores were playing for bowl eligibility in their finale, and the 5-7 finish was significantly better than Lea’s 2-10 debut.
“We can celebrate progress, but we will never be satisfied with 5-7,” Lea said. “Vanderbilt football pursues success at the highest level, and we will not back down from our mission to build the best college football program in the nation. Our goal right now is postseason play, and the margins remain razor thin for our program.”