"I'm Vanderbilt Through and Through," Dansby Swanson's Vanderbilt Football Loyalty Pays Off

NASHVILLE—Dansby Swanson doesn’t want it to get twisted, he wasn’t just standing in FirstBank Stadium’s south end zone because of Vanderbilt’s 6-1 record or its ability to compete with and knock off a team like No. 10 LSU.

Swanson’s only free week to come to a Vanderbilt game alongside his wife Mallory was this October Saturday and he would’ve been there whether Lea’s team was compelling or not. That’s not how the former Vanderbilt baseball star rolls in regard to his former school, he says.

“I’m Vanderbilt through and through,” Swanson told Vandy on SI while standing on the sidelines before Vanderbilt football’s 31-24 win over No. 10 LSU. “This is the only chance I was going to be able to come up and watch a game.”

Swanson stood there with a backwards Vanderbilt hat on, a coffee from Barista Parlor and a Vanderbilt puffer vest on as if he’d never left this place. Before his time on the field was over before the game, Swanson was milling around by Vanderbilt baseball’s recruiting section shaking hands and acknowledging those who are set to come after him.

If the contingent of Vanderbilt’s current baseball players and recruits come anywhere near Swanson’s rèsumè of accolades, they’ll have a lifetime sideline pass to FirstBank Stadium like Swanson does. Perhaps the only person in the stadium who will rank near Swanson on lists of all-time Vanderbilt athletes is Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.

Swanson appears to agree with that sentiment.

“Diego’s just got it, man,” Swanson said. “If you play sports long enough, you just kind of get to know athletes that’ve got it and he’s got it. It doesn’t matter any physical limitation that he may have, just in terms of his stature. He knows where to go with the football, he makes good reads, he’s obviously supremely confident and he leads this team in a really good way.”

The former Vanderbilt shortstop and 10-year MLB veteran has seen plenty of quarterbacks come through this place. He remembers many of them losing and not being effective enough to get this program where it’s so often wanted to go. He remembers the pain and apathy that came along with subpar results.

Since Swanson’s exit from Vanderbilt in 2015, it’s had just one winning football season and hasn’t given him all that much reason to come back. Swanson has still been involved with this place and has rooted for it in every sport, but has a different level of pride seeing it win the way it has in 2025 thus far.

“It’s just exciting to see a team play with swagger and confidence and really represent the university in such an incredible way,” Swanson said. “You can’t really ask for anything more than what Clark and his staff have done and just what this team embodies, the toughness, swagger, commitment to being a winning program.”

If there’s a former Vanderbilt athlete that knows a winning program, it’s Swanson. The former Vanderbilt shortstop—and current Chicago Cub—won a national championship with Tim Corbin’s program in 2014 and went back to Omaha in 2015 as a member of his program. Swanson can say all of that, that he’s a $177 million dollar man and that he’s a World Series champion.

Jun 25, 2014; Omaha, NE, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores infielder Dansby Swanson (7) celebrates an inning ending play in the eighth inning against the Virginia Cavaliers during game three of the College World Series Finals at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Vanderbilt defeated Virginia 3-2 to win the College World Series. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

He’s not often been able to say that his college football team is one to be proud of, though. Now he is as Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt program sits at 6-1 as an AP Top 25 team with a chance to make a run at the College Football Playoff. It’s not his program, but that means something to him.

“It’s just so cool,” Swanson said. “To see how it’s grown over the last few years.”