Clark Lea – Syndication Server

Brian Kelly shares thoughts on facing former assistant Clark Lea

Here’s what Brian Kelly had to say about facing his former assistant on Saturday

For the second time this year, LSU head coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] will face a former Notre Dame assistant. The first round came at Texas A&M when Kelly’s old DC Mike Elko got the best of LSU.

Now, LSU is set to face Vanderbilt, led by Clark Lea.

Lea was linebackers coach at Notre Dame before Kelly promoted him to defensive coordinator. Lea was with Kelly at Notre Dame from 2017-20 before taking the Vanderbilt job in 2021.

“Clark is extremely locked into what his process is,” Kelly said, “He’s stayed steadfast with that even through some of the rougher years, and that’s why they’re on the other side of this.”

Kelly elaborated, talking about Lea’s time at Notre Dame.

“That’s the way he ran everything. All of our meetings were in lockstep. Everything that we did was a consensus, which I’m certain he’s getting that same consensus within his program at Vanderbilt,” Kelly said.

All of Lea’s defenses at Notre Dame ranked top 15 nationally in scoring defense. Two units ranked in the top 10.

LSU coach Brian Kelly to face 2 former assistants in 2024

Brian Kelly is set to face two of his former assistants in 2024.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has coached for a long time. He’s seen plenty of assistants come and go, with some going on to be head coaches. Two of those names include Mike Elko and Clark Lea. Both worked under Kelly as defensive coordinator and both are now SEC head coaches.

Kelly will get to face both in 2024, with both appearing on LSU’s schedule.

Kelly was asked about facing Mike Elko earlier this week at SEC Media Days. Kelly said Elko is a smart football coach who will play to Texas A&M’s strengths in all three phases of the game.

“I think that’s why Mike’s going to do very, very well at Texas A&M,” Kelly said.

Elko was Kelly’s defensive coordinator for the 2017 campaign at Notre Dame before leaving to take the same job at Texas A&M. That 2017 unit allowed just 21.3 points per game and helped Notre Dame secure a win over LSU in the Citrus Bowl.

Lea spent more time under Kelly. He was the LBs coach on that 2017 staff, but was promoted to DC after Elko’s departure. He remained in that role until he took over Vanderbilt in 2021.

Lea was asked about his time with Kelly last year and had this to say.

“He’s a guy I love having in the league and I stay in touch him with him,” Lea said.

Vandy Coach Clark Lea on his time with Brian Kelly pic.twitter.com/ewd0RCC5Mz

— Mitchell Gibbs (@mitch_gibby9874) July 18, 2023

LSU will face Elko and Texas A&M in College Station on Oct. 26. The Tigers are set to host Lea and Vanderbilt on Nov. 23.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

An SEC program is trending to add former Notre Dame cornerback Micah Bell

This would be an interesting pairing

Unfortunately for cornerback [autotag]Micah Bell[/autotag], his time playing for Notre Dame football was short.

During his freshman season, he registered just one tackle, kept his year of eligibility by redshirting then opted to move on from the Irish following spring practice. After just a few weeks as a free agent, it looks like Bell may be coming to a decision on where his next football home is, Vanderbilt.

According to On3’s Steve Wiltfong, the Commodores are trending in his re-recruitment. As a recruit, Bell was ranked as the No. 258 overall player and 30th cornerback according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Vanderbilt is emerging as the program to beat for former Notre Dame defensive back and All-American recruit Micah Bell. https://t.co/k3ms1FW318 pic.twitter.com/OgauU4hZ0Q

— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) May 9, 2024

Vanderbilt’s head coach is a familiar face, as former Irish defensive coordinator [autotag]Clark Lea[/autotag] runs the program. Bell would be a great addition for the former Notre Dame coach.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Way too early 2024 SEC Football Power Rankings

The Sooners and Longhorns are making the jump to the SEC in 2024, so where do they land in our way-too-early power rankings?

In 2024, college football will look like nothing we’ve ever seen. Conference realignment did plastic surgery to the game we’ve grown up with.

The Pac-12 is essentially gone as Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA move to the Big Ten. The Big 12 added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Stanford and Cal are off to the ACC, along with SMU getting a promotion from the AAC. The SEC is adding Texas and Oklahoma.

The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams, coming off its most competitive four-team version.

All of this is happening in 2024.

It’s a new era of college football. For the SEC, the Sooners and Longhorns are coming off of double-digit win seasons and Texas made the playoff. But how do they stack up against their future SEC counterparts?

Here’s a look at our way-too-early SEC power rankings.

College football: Clark Lea gets extension at Vanderbilt

Would he have been coaching Notre Dame if Kelly left a year earlier?

Former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea has been extended by Vanderbilt to remain their head coach through 2029. Lea left Notre Dame after helping call their defense en route to College Football Playoff appearances in 2018 and 2020.

In two years at Vanderbilt, where Lea played fullback, the Commodores went 2-10 in 2021 before improving to 5-7 last year. Obviously the expectations at Vanderbilt are different than say, the rest of the SEC.

Lea has taken a program that was in contention for being the worst Power Five program and turned it into a respectable one in short order. His next step will be trying to get Vanderbilt back to bowl eligibility. They last played in a bowl game following the 2018 season.

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Vanderbilt coach names starting quarterback for UGA game

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea names the Commodores’ starting quarterback for the Georgia football game

The Vanderbilt Commodores plan to start quarterback Ken Seals against Georgia. Seals has started two straight games for the Commodores.

The Commodores turned to Seals after AJ Swann, who started Vanderbilt’s first five games of the year, was unable to avoid turnovers. Swann threw 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions in his five starts.

Ken Seals has only thrown one interception to go with six touchdown passes in his two starts. Seals played against Georgia in Vanderbilt’s ugly 62-0 loss to Georgia in 2021. Seals completed two of nine passes for eight yards and threw one interception.

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea announced the Commodores’ plans to start Lea on Thursday, Oct. 12. The 2-5 Commodores have not scored a point against Georgia in their last two games against the Bulldogs.

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Georgia enters the game having started the season 6-0. The Bulldogs are coming off their best performance of the season against Kentucky.

Clark Lea details Vanderbilt’s cornerbacks ahead of fall camp

2023 SEC media days: Clark Lea details Vanderbilt’s cornerbacks ahead of fall training camp

Vanderbilt third-year head coach Clark Lea kicked off the second day of Southeastern Conference media days Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Commodores will conclude regular-season play at Tennessee on Nov. 25. Vanderbilt lost to the Vols, 56-0, last year in Lea’s second season.

Vanderbilt allowed 3,486 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns in 2022.

Lea discussed the Commodores’ cornerbacks at SEC media days ahead of fall training camp.

“We have to find the best 11 on both sides,” Lea said. “We do return some snaps at corner, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t played a bunch. This is about finding the people that are capable in the moment. Obviously, in a game now that is won and lost on the perimeter, we have to give our young players a chance to develop in fall camp. Obviously we have some second year players that are further along in their progress that we expect to have a role on our team. We also have a true freshman that comes in with the chance to make an impact, too. If you remember a year ago, CJ Taylor started as kind of a fringe contributor on our defense and became really our most dynamic playmaker on that side of the ball. That’ll happen at some level this year, too.

“What our goal here is, in fall camp, is to get all those guys exposure, and they’re going to be guarding some SEC-level receivers now. We have a good receiving corps, and it’s not always going to look pretty. For us, it’s to be patient enough to see that through, to keep coaching and developing them through both their wins and their losses and their reps, and to see how that group matures through camp and where we’re ready to start the season. At the point at which we put the ball down against Hawai’i, we don’t stop evaluating at that point. We’ll still look for the highest level performance. That gives those young players time to build into an impact role.”

Vanderbilt kicks off its season Aug. 26 versus Hawai’i at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville (7:30 p.m. EDT, SEC Network).

PHOTOS: 2023 SEC media days kicks off in Nashville

Vanderbilt and head football coach Clark Lea agree to contract extension

Vanderbilt has locked down head football coach Clark Lea for the forseeable future with a contract extension the two sides announced on Monday.

Vanderbilt and head football coach Clark Lea have agreed to a contract extension, the university announced on Monday afternoon.

The extension comes before Lea’s third year with the program. After going 2-10 in his first year in Nashville, the Commodores rebounded for a 5-7 record in 2022. It was the program’s first season of five or more wins since 2018, including key wins in November over Kentucky and Florida.

The program, which went 3-18 in its final two years under former head coach Derek Mason has shown vast improvements under Lea in just a short period.

While Vanderbilt did not disclose the contract terms, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that the extension will keep the former Commodore fullback with the program through 2029.

Before his time with Vanderbilt, Lea spent time across the college football landscape, stopping at UCLA, South Dakota State, Bowling Green, Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Notre Dame along the way. Lea served as the Fighting Irish’s linebacker coach for four seasons while also serving three of those seasons as their defensive coordinator under head coach Brian Kelly.

Vanderbilt and Lea will get their 2023 season started on August 26 as the Commodores host the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Their remaining non-conference schedule includes Alabama A&M and trips to Wake Forest and UNLV before diving into their SEC schedule starting September 23 against the Kentucky Wildcats.

SEC Coaching Rankings: Saban stays at the top, Brian Kelly enters top 3

The SEC is loaded with talented football coaches ranging from decades of experience to first-year hires. Here’s how they rank, according to CBS Sports.

The SEC is loaded with talented individuals. Whether it be players, coaches, training staff or others, the conference is known for being the gold standard in college football. Today, we place the 14 head coaches under a microscope.

CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee recently broke down every SEC head coach and ranked them from first to worst.

Below, Roll Tide Wire takes a look at the rankings and the reasoning behind them. There are some that are spot on, while others are just a bit off. At the end of the day, however, it’s all subjective.

Here are how Sallee ranked the 14 head coaches of the SEC.

How Sam Hartman fared in his one start vs. Notre Dame

It was so nice of @dtranquill to introduce himself to Notre Dame’s future quarterback all those years ago…

Back in late September of 2018, Notre Dame was riding a 3-0 start but struggling mightily on offense. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] decided before the Wake Forest game that [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] would replace [autotag]Brandon Wimbush[/autotag] as the starting quarterback and after guiding the Irish to a 56-27 victory, the rest was pretty much history in terms of that quarterback controversy.

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Plenty of people thought they had seen a glimpse of Notre Dame’s future beyond Book at quarterback when [autotag]Phil Jurkovec[/autotag] got playing time late. It was a different young quarterback from that afternoon that would go on to play for the Irish years later, though.

[autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] was a freshman playing in just his fourth game at Wake Forest that day. It was a day he’s probably long forgotten or at least put in his past as it was one of his roughest for the Demon Deacons.

Hartman completed just 12 of 24 passes for 110 yards. He threw for no scores, ran for no touchdowns, but didn’t turn the ball over, either. After having rushed for over 60 yards in each of his first three games, Hartman was swallowed up by [autotag]Clark Lea[/autotag]’s defense, putting up just 11 rushing yards on 16 attempts (3 sacks included).

Here’s to hoping (and assuming) Hartman will play a lot better as a 23 year old for Notre Dame than he did as an 18 year old against them.