Vanderbilt Football, Clark Lea Puts Full-Court Press on College Football Playoff Committee
In this story:
NASHVILLE—First it was Candice Storey Lee stepping to the podium a few minutes after the designated 2:00 start time of Monday morning’s impromptu press conference in Vanderbilt football’s team room. In the moments following Storey Lee’s exit, it was Vanderbilt coach Clark stepping up to deliver a similar message.
Storey Lee is often available to the media, but doesn’t often speak in press conference settings like she did on Tuesday. For that to happen and for Lea to speak outside of his usual Tuesday and Thursday slots, it had to be pressing.
In this case it is, Vanderbilt football is ranked No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings. It’s firmly on the bubble of the sport’s biggest event as it awaits an updated ranking after its 45-24 win over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, it appears as if it feels it has to do everything it can in order to influence those rankings on Tuesday night.
So, when Storey Lee stepped up to the podium it took her less than a minute to get to the point.
“When the College Football Playoff committee talks about what they want to see, they want to see teams who are playing their best football at the end of the season. Check,” Storey Lee said, “They want to see teams who are playing their best football at the end of the season. Check. They want you to have ranked wins and a strong strength of schedule. Check. Understanding that if you lose they can’t be bad losses and our two losses are quality losses. So, check. And we have–we believe that Diego Pavia is the best football player in the country.”
Storey Lee says she believes Vanderbilt has checked every box required to be included in the College Football Playoff field when this is all said and done. The Vanderbilt athletic director came to Monday’s press conference armed with what data from Vanderbilt’s athletic communications department supporting the Commodores’ case to be included in the field. This was more of an advertisement than a press conference from the beginning.
Vanderbilt hasn’t gotten the help it’s needed to be in what’s considered to be a favorable position in the field, but it’s taking matters into its own hands at this stage. It’s also doing it with the chip on the shoulder mentality that’s allowed it to turn this thing from a 2-10 bottomfeeder to a playoff contender.
Storey Lee and Lea weren’t exactly rude, but they were confrontational on Monday in regard to the idea that their history and brand is being included within the playoff selection process and that it shouldn’t be.
“If the CFP committee would take blind resumes, our team would benefit from that exercise,” Lea said in a polite, understated way. “This is not about narratives and stories, it's about the data.”
The data Lea refers to has to start with Vanderbilt’s 10-2 record, every SEC team that finished with that record last season–in the first rendition of the 12-team playoff was included in the field–as well as its three true road wins. The downside of Vanderbilt’s resume is how it’s aged. The Commodores picked up ranked wins over LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and South Carolina, but the possibility exists that no team it’s defeated will be ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night.
Within the first minute of Lea’s Monday afternoon comments, he had also brought up Vanderbilt’s strength of record being slotted in at 11th in the country by ESPN, its point differential being third in the SEC, it being ranked fifth in strength of schedule, Vanderbilt being 10-2 against the spread and the idea that its two losses came against teams that have a combined 19-5 record. Lea says he doesn’t pay attention to whether a team covers the spread that’s laid out for it, but that the stat indicates his team should have earned more respect than it’s been given to this point and has transcended the initial perception surrounding it.
It was a press conference heartily unlike what Lea has been used to since taking the Vanderbilt job and being intentional about avoiding anything external that could distract from his program’s success on the field. Just a week ago, the Vanderbilt head coach noted that he hadn’t paid much attention to the idea that his team could be left out of the field. Monday was different.
“It’s my responsibility to make my case and to make sure that I’m fighting for a team that I believe deeply in,” Lea said Tuesday. “This team deserves the brightest lights and the biggest stage. They’ve earned that right.”
Lea’s comments became desperate at a point as he described his team’s desire to “put the ball down in a parking lot and play” if it needed to in order to have a chance to play four more games and pursue its playoff aspirations.
Special occasions call for that and Lea knows it. So does, Vanderbilt chancellor Daniel Diermeier–who joined in on the action on Monday by releasing a statement via Twitter. Vanderbilt is putting the full-court press on the College Football Playoff committee these days. Time to see if it will pay off.
“Vanderbilt football finished 10-2, unbeaten at home and proved they can compete in the SEC and at the highest level,” Diermeier said. “The evidence is clear; Vanderbilt has earned its place in the CFP.”
_(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.
Follow joey_dwy