The Vanderbilt Commodores will enter the 2023 football season having lost 27 of their last 29 Southeastern Conference games.
Or, in the more preferred way to frame it in Nashville, having won two of their last three.
Vanderbilt ended a 26-game league losing streak last November with a 24-21 upset win at Kentucky and followed that up the very next week with a 31-24 stunning of visiting Florida. Those were the first two SEC triumphs of the Clark Lea era, and the plan is for many more to come.
“There is definitely more confidence within the building and within the whole program in general,” Commodores senior receiver Will Sheppard said last month at SEC Media Days. “You saw a confidence boost to where we feel like we belong. Everybody is excited for this upcoming season and building off what we started last year.
“Our goal this year is postseason play, so we’re going to keep working hard to get towards that.”
The Commodores will be the first SEC team to begin competition when they host Hawaii on Aug. 26.
It wasn’t that long ago when Vanderbilt had its best postseason run in program history, reaching five bowl games in the eight-year stretch from 2011-18. That included consecutive 9-4 records under James Franklin in 2012-13, but the Commodores took a noticeable downturn under Derek Mason in 2019 and suffered through their first winless season ever at 0-9 in 2020.
Lea, a former Commodores fullback, left his role as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator and returned to his alma mater, but his debut season got off to a stunningly bad start with a 23-3 home loss to East Tennessee State. Vanderbilt went 2-10 two years ago but improved to 5-7 last season, which recently earned Lea a contract extension through 2029.
“Momentum is on the up for sure,” senior linebacker Ethan Barr said. “We are all excited that Coach Lea is going to be here, hopefully for a long time. He’s always said to us that he plans to be here for the rest of his career. He loves it here. Nashville is his home. He went to Vanderbilt, obviously.
“There’s a lot of good momentum, good energy and a lot of belief within our program for what can happen here at Vanderbilt.”
The Commodores earned their two SEC wins last season behind the play of quarterback Mike Wright and running back Ray Davis, but both exited Nashville via the transfer portal. Wright transferred to Mississippi State, while Davis is now at Kentucky.
AJ Swann, who threw 159 passes as a freshman last year before suffering his first interception, proved to be plenty capable when he was healthy, so the loss of Wright isn’t as significant as the Davis departure. Davis rushed 232 times for 1,042 yards and five touchdowns a season ago, becoming just the 10th 1,000-yard rusher in Vanderbilt history.
“We appreciate everything Ray contributed to our program,” Lea said. “He ran behind five offensive linemen who are back and do a great job. We believe in our offensive front, and we return Chase Gillespie and Patrick Smith, who are both capable runners. We added talented freshmen to that mix, too.
“AJ doesn’t need to shoulder any more of the burden. We need AJ to focus on his development and his ability to facilitate the offense. We’re leaning on a talented receiver corps to be able to create explosive plays for us, but we’re not going to change who we are. We won’t skip a beat in the run game.”
Sheppard, a 6-foot-3, 198-pounder from Mandeville, Louisiana, wants to do his part to add to the perimeter punch. He tallied 60 receptions for 776 yards and nine touchdowns last season, but six of his scores occurred against the nonconference trio of Hawaii, Elon and Northern Illinois.
“This is definitely the most competitive conference in the nation with the best athletes,” Sheppard said, “so it’s definitely hard to score points in this league in general. It’s definitely something I’m trying to focus on going into this season.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.
AP file photo by Marco Garcia / Last year, in his second season as the head football coach at Vanderbilt, former Commodores fullback Clark Lea helped the program end a 26-game losing streak against SEC opponents.VANDERBILT
Last season: 5-7 (2-6 SEC)
Opener: Aug. 26 against Hawaii in Nashville (7:30 p.m. on SEC Network)
Fun fact: Despite improving to 5-7 last season after going 2-10 in 2021, Vanderbilt was outscored a combined 166-3 by Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.