Exclusive: Langston Patterson Reflects on Vanderbilt Career Ahead of Senior Day
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NASHVILLE—Langston Patterson doesn’t yet know what it will feel like when he leaves the tunnel in the south end zone of FirstBank Stadium, shakes Vanderbilt chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s hand, gives Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee a hug and is honored for his senior day.
The day has always appeared to be far off for the Vanderbilt linebacker as he’s morphed into a consistent enough fixture that imagining Vanderbilt football in the post-Patterson era is difficult, but in the moments prior to Vanderbilt’s matchup with Kentucky it will come to fruition.
“I’m sure it will be a little bittersweet,” Patterson told Vandy on SI. “It’s been quite a journey. It hasn’t been a short one, we’ve gone through a lot of different seasons and we’re just trying to make this the best one yet. But it’ll feel somewhat surreal because this is all I’ve known, what I’ve worked for the past four years.”
There’s perhaps no player as synonymous with the Clark Lea era as Patterson. The Vanderbilt linebacker developed a close relationship with Lea as a high school senior as he came into Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center each Sunday to break down film of every game in that eventual 2-10 season–which was Lea’s first as a head coach.
Patterson’s rise came as a sophomore–and nearly the only bright spot–on another 2-10 team that was hopeless enough to undergo a mass exodus after the season. With the benefit of hindsight the Vanderbilt linebacker admits that watching that team fall apart was “hard” because of the relationships he had formed with transfers that opted to leave the program, but says that most exits that the program underwent were in the mutual “best interests” of each individual player and the program. The loss that Patterson says still hurts the program is that of former Vanderbilt wide receiver London Humphreys–a former high school teammate and Nashville native that transferred to Georgia instead of sticking with Vanderbilt–who he says shared the “same mission” as he did and was “everything Vanderbilt would want” as it moved forward in its build.
Patterson could have opted for the same fate as Humphreys did just as easily–particularly since his brother Kane Patterson departed from the program after that season–but he says that he “didn’t really hesitate for one second” in regard to the decision to stay or leave. The Vanderbilt linebacker is open about the idea that “other teams called,” and that some around him advised him to consider jumping ship, but he believed there were brighter days ahead for this program despite the shine wearing off of his initial commitment.
“I didn’t come here to go 2-10 and leave,” Patterson–who was recruited by Notre Dame and Tennessee out of high school–said. “I truly came here with coach Lea and the vision he has for this program and I knew I would be a catalyst for that change.”
Patterson’s dedication to Vanderbilt’s build paid off as he became a focal point in its turnaround 2024 season and has been a fixture of its defense as its 8-2 start to the 2025 season has placed it squarely within the College Football Playoff race.
The Vanderbilt senior is third on its defense in tackles after finishing second the year prior and first as a sophomore. Lea won’t remember Patterson’s numbers as much as he’ll remember him holding on to the rope and becoming the face of this program when it didn’t have any other option.
Patterson’s longevity is among the best of anyone in this Vanderbilt program, but his legacy will have more to do with the adversity he weathered as a part of it, the pride he had in it as well as the faith he represented it with.
“He's been such an important part of the foundation of the program,” Lea said. “It'll be guys like Langston, guys like Richie that we'll remember as being just critical components.”
Lea says seeing Patterson and other transformative seniors in regard to his build go will be “sad” because of the longstanding relationships that he’s developed with them over the years, but says he has a deep “respect” for those that chose to stick with him and his program through the difficult times that plagued it.
Regardless of how this thing ends for this Vanderbilt team in regard to the College Football Playoff, it appears as if Patterson will leave this program a winner. It didn’t always appear that way, but it’s reality. Patterson says that piece of his eventual legacy is more fulfilling than it would have been had he taken up Notre Dame or Tennessee on their offers, Patterson says those places “have always been good and will probably always be good” and that he would’ve just been “part of the logo” at those places.
“To come into somewhere that’s never done it before and to be part of the reason for that,” Patterson said, “That’s way more special to be a part of and is definitely way cooler.”
Patterson knows his “special” run with this program could be over three games from now despite his legal push to allow college athletes to gain a fifth year of eligibility regardless of circumstance and is working to avoid taking anything about it for granted the rest of the way.
The Vanderbilt linebacker doesn’t know if this will be his final season of eligibility or not, but he’s approaching Saturday’s game as his last at FirstBank Stadium. If it is, Patterson knows he’s given this program everything he has.
“Every day has been gifted as a blessing from the Lord,” Patterson said. “Just use it the best you can and for his glory and for your, others’ enjoyment. That’s just kind of how I look at every day. Live every second because you don’t really get another one back. For this senior day I’m just living today and as of today I don’t have another year of eligibility so it definitely feels like my last go around. I’m just gonna enjoy it, soak it all in.”
_(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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