VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt Commodores

Clark Lea, the head coach at Vanderbilt football, went into the stands at Protective Stadium, where he proceeded to celebrate with fans after the Commodores won the Birmingham Bowl on Friday night, according to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Vanderbilt (7-6) defeated Georgia Tech, 35-27, in the bowl game, which gave the Commodores their first winning season since 2013. In that season, under former coach James Franklin, Vanderbilt also won this same bowl which was at that point called the BBVOA Compass Bowl.

Quarterback Diego Pavia was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his performance. After the game, Pavia stated that he would come back and be the Commodores’ signal-caller in the 2025 season, provided that Lea and Jerry Kill were still members of the Vanderbilt football staff at that time. He does not plan to enter the transfer portal as of right now.

More:With Vandy’s Diego Pavia set to return, Jerry Kill says he ‘ain’t going anywhere’ | Estes

Lea had finished his previous three seasons with records of 2-10 in 2021, 5-7 in 2022 and then finally a record of 2-10 in 2023, before he turned things around during the 2024 season. He entered this past season with 10 consecutive losses.

This season included an upset win over Alabama, which was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. However, Vanderbilt entered the bowl having lost four of its final five games to end the regular season.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.