2026 Vanderbilt Football Mailbag #8: Answers to Your Questions
· Yahoo Sports
Letters… we get letters… we get stacks and stacks of letters…
Question from HoosierDore612:
I think Clark Lea has elevated expectations at Vanderbilt compared with where the program has been historically, at least, he’s given us a sense of hope of a transformational season like last year’s run. I’d even say he’s given us more expectations than the old bald coach could ever dream of. While last season ended in a whimper of a bowl game, this year feels like the program is headed for a steep drop off and I worry about the sustainability of last year’s success into the long term of the football brand. No one knows what will come of transfers in/out, but I have real concerns about retaining “top talent” by our standards.
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Do we think the program is still continuing on an upward trajectory in the long term despite the losses we’ve had this year, or do we think there’s a very real possibility of becoming the “once in a blue moon” season type of program again?
Answers from AoG:
Tom Stephenson: I guess this depends on how you define “upward trajectory.” 10-win seasons happening with regularity? Maybe not. Consistently winning six or seven games? Yeah, I can see it. Does that even matter now that we’ve decided that the Playoff is the only thing that matters and a December trip to beautiful Shreveport, Louisiana, does not?
PatrickSawyer: It is hard to say the program is not on an upward trajectory after signing the highest rated recruit in program history. Yes, there was a hometown flair to it, but Jared Curtis has looked like an extremely talented 5* freshman QB playing in the SEC for a team lacking talent in other areas. He is the type of talent that will attract other talent. I do have growing concerns about the coaching staff, including the head coach. Most of us were ready to move on from Clark Lea after 2023. The import of Jerry Kill and a large chunk of his New Mexico State coaching staff and key players covered those doubts. This season has re-exposed many of them. The program is still on an upward trajectory, but I think the ceiling is lower than previously thought.
Andrew VU ‘04: Even though NoHo Clark did lead us to a 10 win season last year, and the last two years were our second Brigadoon, I’ve never quite thought of Clark Lea as being in the same stratosphere of a coach as James Franklin (The Old Bald Poach)—largely because Jimmy Franks never went through a year of suck, let alone multiple years. To his credit, Clark did get us to a slightly higher level than The Old Bald Poach did in each of the last two years (beating Bama, winning 10 games, and getting the top QB in the 2026 class), but… well… that was all after he convinced Kill, Beck, and the entire NMSU squad to Voltron up with the Dores, as well as getting the boosters to pump all their money into NIL. Franklin did it all with much less, no? There’s a reason The State Penn thought he would bring them back to the heights of Paterno (sans Sandusky). I’m not sure Lea will ever be in as much demand by the blue bloods.
In short, I like our Shine-O Ball-O head coach, but I’d put him in the “Good Coach with Help” category and not the “Solo Dynamo” category Jimmy Franks resided in during Brigadoon I.
Question from Cole The Mascot Head:
Jared Curtis, when he knows where to throw the ball, will get the ball there wherever the receiver is on the field. He usually does not know where to throw the ball. Is this actually coachable? Can we actually expect improvement on this? If he continues to exhibit less-than-stellar decision-making, will we even be at risk of him leaving, or will he have to stick around?
Answers from AoG:
Tom Stephenson: In order: yes, yes, and no. You can coach a quarterback to read defenses, there is no reason not to expect improvement on this from Curtis. Right now, he is, as I said in the preseason, a guy who was not only playing high school teams but bad high school teams as recently as last year, and he is currently learning that there are balls that the defensive backs at Georgia and Arkansas will make a play on that the defensive backs at the University School of Jackson will not.
As to the last question, I don’t know that he’s at risk of leaving regardless. I mean he’s going to get paid here, he’s home, and he’s going to start as long as he’s here. Would you leave in that situation? Granted I am a guy who doesn’t mind being underpaid as long as I can stay at the job forever.
PatrickSawyer: It is coachable because Curtis does not seem like a player who is incapable of making secondary reads. He just has not been asked to make them very often. He has occasionally shown the ability to find open players while scrambling. That skill and reading defenses, especially post-snap, are pretty similar.
The offensive scheme I think often operates on 1- or 2-read plays, too. Play design is intended to scheme one or two guys open in a more concentrated way that a more “pro style” offense that will demand 3, 4, or even 5 successive reads until one is open. Beck’s offense is more about play design to either misdirect defense’s from a certain player or isolating a specific player in a favorable matchup.
Andrew VU ‘04: That’s all very coachable. Again, see the career arc of Josh Allen.
Question from Jessecuster44:
Something is catastrophically wrong with this team. It isn’t Curtis, who is callow but fun to watch – he’ll be very good one day. It’s effort. Aside from QB1, I’m not sure who is actually TRYING (and I mean SEC level TRYING) out there.
Were you to rank the following 5 actions in order of effort displayed from 1 – 5 where 5 is the most and 1 is the least, what order would you place them?
a) The Defensive Coaching Staff’s in game adjustments and communication to their players
b) The Defense’s play starting with Arkansas’ last drive of 2Q
c) Coach Lea chasing after that spectator who ran onto the field
d) The OC’s work over the past week to design a game plan to use Curtis’ strengths and exploit Arkansas’ weaknesses
e) Room temperature butter’s resistance to a hot knife
Follow up: If most of the players and coaches don’t seem to care, why should we?
Another Follow up: Why should Curtis?
Answers from AoG:
Tom Stephenson: I mean, look, see my answer to the first question. Does this season still matter? We’re 3-4, we could win out (as long of a shot as that would be) and probably not even sniff the Playoff, just play in one of those bowl games everyone has decided is meaningless. Are guys already playing out the string? Probably. Are a good portion of them going to enter the portal after the season? Of course, a Vanderbilt degree is now the same as a MTSU degree to these guys. Eat at Arby’s.
PatrickSawyer: I hate effort questions. I think lack of effort is so often blamed in place it shouldn’t be, and it is almost ubiquitously related to factors around the player. Fans will talk about “low effort” when it is just normal effort, not “run through a brick wall” level of effort. Momentum creates effort. Effort creates momentum. It compounds both ways.
Also, I would argue strongly that CJ Heard, Mason Lewis, Bryan Longwell, Junior Sherrill, Ja’Cory Thomas, and a few other players are all giving very high effort, even if their efforts are not always successful.
From most to least: B, C, D, E, A
Andrew VU ‘04: Bonus point for correct use of “callow.” You may move to the head of the class.
Question from Ofermod:
What did Kentucky do this year that elevated them to somehow be good (?), and does that provide a blueprint for what Vandy should look to do over the offseason?
Answers from AoG:
Tom Stephenson: Get lucky?
PatrickSawyer: New shiny, experienced QB and an aggressive coach.
Andrew VU ‘04: Kentucky has been pretty good during the entire Stoops era, so when they replaced him, it’s not exactly like current Head Coach Pete “Prima” Nochta had to strip it down to the studs and build up from nothing. There’s nothing fancy. They had good depth. They got a new coach. They bought some talent. They put on Jamal Mashburn jerseys and attended weddings…
Question(s) from WestEndMayhem & Dinard’oh:
So who is getting fired after this season, and will it be enough?
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I’ll add this, to make it a little more pointed. Is Barton Simmons earning his paycheck?
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: The talent level has skyrocketed under Simmons. This year has more misses than anyone would like, especially on the offensive line, but the work Simmons has done to build this roster, even when on-field results were bad, has been very impressive. There is no way I want him fired.
It will depend on how the season finishes who gets or should get fired. Right now, I think Clark Lea will replace Gregory at DC. That’s about it.
Andrew VU ‘04: I wasn’t going to include this until Dinard’oh added the addendum, but the Barton Simmons question is intriguing. I’d say yes, but only due to past performance. As the de facto GM, I’ll not hold Simmons to a higher standard than Howie Roseman, who I view to be the best GM in professional feetball. Simmons has hit huge before on guys he’s found under rocks, playing DII football in West Dakota or some such nonsense. This year, those guys flopped. Surely the Philadelphia Eagles, two years after winning a Superb Owl, must be doing well this season. Let’s check the standings, and DEAR GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! Barton Simmons gets one “kill it with fire” year, especially on the heels of a 10 win season and the best QB we’ve ever had (not arm talent-wise, but… you know). He doesn’t get to do this again next year. If he doesn’t make our Knights who say “NIL” stack the o-line with studs, and bring in at least two playmaking WRs, a RB to replace Sedrick the Entertainer, and… a defense… then we start to comparison shop for torchfork sharpeners. Not now.
Question from Kringle:
Considering the talent in, say, a decade of teams, is this the one that has most underperformed?
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: Hah. No.
Andrew VU ‘04: No.
Question from Ofermod:
If we need another, which hurts more? Doing worse than expected in a rebuilding year, or being Texas or TAMU and expecting to be good but doing worse than expected (but still better than this)?
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: Failing in a “contender” year is waaay worse.
Andrew VU ‘04: Everything hurts bigger in Tejas.
Question from HeavyDore:
In the 2024 and 2025 seasons, were we just ahead of the curve on having a General Manager/Director of Personnel and how to properly execute NIL funds? Did we just happen to catch the SEC behind the curve the before they caught up?
The SEC seems much better from to bottom this year which makes me feel like the teams in the SEC are bringing more money (per the Athletic 11 of the top 20 NIL spenders are from the SEC) and more importantly, using their dollars better.
Note: This is not to diminish Pavia and the magic he brought. But it seems like it is going to be harder going forward finding “lightning in a bottle” players with so much money being able to be spent by everyone else.
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: I do not think Vanderbilt as a whole was ahead of the curve on NIL. Granted, they did jump in heavily last season. The GM role for Barton Simmons was maybe not technically ahead of the curve because plenty of teams had them, but I think how he and Clark Lea worked together was probably a bit unique.
Yes, the bottom of the SEC does appear stronger now which makes it harder to find “easy” wins.
Andrew VU ‘04: I mean, in previous seasons, Simmons unearthed diamonds in the rough on the ‘crootin’ trail and then the big boys just bought them (see the WR who went to Ugga, etc). You’ve always got to zig when they zag, and then figure something else out when they “Move Zig.”
This is for Parlagi, mostly:
Question(s) from VU1970 & Vandy Mike:
Is it just me, or is there more negativity toward the program this year than B.P. (before Pavia)? Are we that spoiled? Or are there that many folks who can’t have a drink without going morose?
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I am not trying to be mean, but I mean what I say….is Vandy simply regressing to the mean, or does CCL have the means to reach Pavia-land again?
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: Expectations have changed. Criticism will increase, fairly or not.
This team with Curtis should be able to get back to 10 wins if they surround him with the right talent and will play in ways, offensively and defensively, that maximize the talent instead of minimizing risk.
Andrew VU ‘04: Oh of course there is. If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll come back wanting more. If the next cookie is covered in shit, you’re going to be a whole lot more negative than if you had gotten some carrot sticks to begin with.
Question from RocketCityVandy:
Can I get an alcohol/snack pairing option list for this new depth of despair? Preferably something I can buy in enough quantity to make it to basketball season without going too far in debt (debt is unavoidable in this economy, obviously).
Answers from AoG:
PatrickSawyer: Uh…bourbon and chicken wings? I don’t know. It is nothing too crazy. Just enjoy whatever gameday beverage and food you would want to enjoy. That way, even if the football team fails you, the day is still enjoyable.
Andrew VU ‘04: Man, I don’t know if alcky-hol is the way to go with this season. I might eat some jerk chicken with the ghost of Bob Marley and mellow the hell out. Watch for Curtis E. Bear’s development under the purple haze of not giving a damn.