Coach Prime Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes aren’t the only college football programs to leave the season with a lackluster record. The Vanderbilt Commodores have fared worse this season with just two wins out of 12 games. Following this sad season performance, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea has made a change in the program’s coaching roster.
Vanderbilt is one of the worst-performing college football programs this season with 2-10, ranking 7th in the SEC East. The Commodores won their first two games and starting from Week 3, their losing streak began as they ended the season with 10 back-to-back losses. After failure to shake things up with their coaching, Clark Lea fired two coaches from the team, with the most recent one being Joey Lynch, Vanderbilt’s offensive coordinator.
Clark Lea makes major change in Vanderbilt’s coaching roster
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It’s time for a big change! Perhaps, that’s what head coach Clark Lea had in mind when he made a series of changes in Vanderbilt’s coaching positions. And he’s taking matters into his own hands now. First, he fired offensive coordinator Joey Lynch who was first hired as a quarterbacks coach as part of his original staff before the 2021 season. Another major change is that Lea will leap into the position of Nick Howell as the team’s defensive coordinator as the latter gets demoted to assistant coach.
According to the statement by Clark Lea, Howell will assist in coaching the defensive backs, along with Jamaal Richardson who was just promoted to assistant coach. Dan Jackson, meanwhile, will be placed in an off-field role. This is the second time that Vanderbilt has fired a coach following a disappointing regular season. The first to be fired was strength coach Brandon Hourigan. Lea said in his farewell speech to Lynch, “I’d like to thank Joey for his three years of dedication to our program. I wish him all the best in the future.“
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After Vanderbilt endured one of their worst seasons, Lea said, “We had a season where our results and performance fell short of our expectations. When that is the case, change is necessary. My background as a defensive coordinator will allow me to best serve our team by taking on that responsibility.” Clark Lea served as the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2018-20 before transitioning to Vanderbilt as the head coach in 2021.
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After this series of changes, we don’t know what will happen to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Coach Prime and the Buffs have shown their preparedness for the next season despite their fall from grace. Hopefully, Vanderbilt will move in the same optimistic direction now that the necessary changes are made.
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