Exclusive: Candice Storey Lee Speaks on Clark Lea Contract Extension
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KNOXVILLE, TENN—-In the middle of the third row of Tennessee’s media room, Vanderbilt athletic director sat and waited for Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea to arrive for his press conference while holding on to a football that had just been gifted to her by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia as he declared her the “best AD, who extended the best coach in the nation.” The former Vanderbilt women’s basketball star had finally earned her first football game ball.
It was a night of dreams for Storey Lee–who took the football, chanted “VU” with Vanderbilt’s players and wore her patented smile in the visiting locker room doorway. The Vanderbilt Athletic director had just seen the finishing touches put on perhaps her most important week in the role and could finally stop for a second to enjoy it as she anticipated the arrival of her newly-extended head coach.
Storey Lee, Lea and Lea’s notorious agent Jimmy Sexton had worked for weeks to hammer out the details of a potential contract extension as other power-five schools–including Florida, where he reportedly interviewed–made it known to Lea’s camp that he was a priority in their searches. If the Vanderbilt athletic director wanted to prove that her department was serious about consistent winning in football it had to reach a deal with Lea, though. On Friday, Storey Lee and Vanderbilt chancellor Daniel Diermeier closed the deal.
“As labor intensive of a process as it may have been for all of us,” Storey Lee told Vandy on SI in the bottom of Neyland Stadium, “It was always with the goal to do exactly what we did, and that's extend our coach and extend the best leader of this football program.”
The indication is that Lea’s six-year contract extension includes a pay raise as well as significant resource upgrades that allow those within this program to believe that it’s set up for sustained success moving forward.
Lea’s team demonstrated that his extension was worthwhile as they took down Tennessee 45-24 in the program’s first win over the Volunteers since 2018–for the first time in Storey Lee and Lea’s tenures–and picked up a 10th win for the first time in program history. Storey Lee couldn’t have done this without Lea and Lea appears to believe that the statement goes both ways. By the end of the night, the only three Vanderbilt personnel members left within Neyland Stadium were Lea, Storey Lee and Pavia. The three weren’t sitting reflecting on the masterpiece they orchestrated in this college football cathedral, but their shared presence was fitting.
In the end, their vision was vitalized and they were left to reflect on what they’d just done.
“I've got the best AD in the country,” Lea said in his postgame press conference. “She's tough. She's resilient. Every time we needed her to step up, she stepped up. I mean, two years ago, in this exact space, the conversation was about we can't go on as we are, and all she did was link arms with us, not judge us, but look to help us and support us. And that's when we started to really plot our course to today. And what's cool to me is, with the extension now we can, we can take that line and plot it even further.”
In the days following Vanderbilt’s last trip to Neyland Stadium–which ended in a decisive loss to wrap a 2-10 season that continued to bring Lea under fire from Vanderbilt’s fanbase–Storey Lee had a decision to make. Would she double down on her head coach? Or would she hit the reset button?
The Vanderbilt athletic director chose to allow Lea to reset Vanderbilt’s program with an offensive coordinator hire, an improved NIL base and belief that he could climb the mountain that few other Vanderbilt coaches have. The decision will be one that Storey Lee is tied to forever. She says it wasn’t all that difficult to make.
“My confidence in coach has never wavered,” Storey Lee said, “It’s really important for people to hear me say that.”
Storey Lee says she believed a result like Vanderbilt put together in its 2025 season–in which it is on the College Football Playoff bubble–was possible since its 2-10 season in Lea’s first year at the helm and had continued to believe in it. Now, she’s given Lea the second extension of his tenure and is working to make this thing sustainable.
As Storey Lee stood in the back tunnel of Neyland Stadium, she radiated with a confidence in what the football program she oversees has built. She knows the work isn’t complete, but she believes she made the right decision in her vote of confidence in Lea.
“We lock arms and we do things all the time to put this program in the best position possible, and Coach Lea leading it is a part of that,” Storey Lee said. “So my job is to get the resources and to help make the strategic decisions or support the vision and strategic decisions. That was one and it was important.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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