Vanderbilt Football Notebook: Jack Elliott's Development, Tight Ends, Gabe Fisher
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NASHVILLE—Perhaps there’s no greater indication as to how this Vanderbilt football program has evolved than Jack Elliott and his likely role as Vanderbilt heads into the final weeks of spring ball.
Elliott is a former 3-star recruit that has come along quickly within offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s system and is engaged in what Vanderbilt is calling an open quarterback competition. The odds that Elliott beats out star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis aren’t all that high. The odds may not be high that he beats out veteran backup Blaze Berlowitz. That’s not an indictment on him, though.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea called Elliott a “bulldog” in a pre-spring interview with Vandy on SI, and meant it. Elliott was a consistent winner as a high schooler in Illinois and has been among Vanderbilt’s steadiest quarterbacks in the room throughout spring practice.
“He's done a really good job up to this point,” Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck said. “That's part of the reason we wanted to make sure we went live on the quarterbacks, 'cause we knew Jack would be able to show some things that he, maybe can't show if we don't go live and he's done well when we had those live opportunities. He's still got some, areas that he's got to get better at and stuff, but we're really happy with his progress up to this point.”
In past seasons–prior to Diego Pavia’s arrival at Vanderbilt–Elliott would be more of a threat to be Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback. Now, though–barring a stellar fall camp–he’ll likely have to wait his turn before starting.
Elliott appears to be okay with that, though. He appears to be bought in on the process and the idea that he’ll be better off for going through his first full calendar year within Vanderbilt’s system. That’s a win for this program.
“The longer you're in one system, the more comfortable you're gonna get with all the checks that needs to be made, changing protections, getting us out of bad plays because one of the biggest things for us offensively is we always talk about minimizing negative plays,” Beck said. “And if we can minimize negative yardage plays, stay on schedule, give ourselves to be in that third and medium to third and short, all the time. Then we got a great chance for success.”
Gabe Fisher’s evolution
Fisher remembers coming to Vanderbilt, having to learn his role as an offensive player after playing defense as a high schooler. As he steps up to his Thursday media availability, though, he’s one of the leaders of this Vanderbilt offense.
He may not be one of the program’s biggest names, but he’s one of its stalwarts these days. What a ride it’s been for the Nashville native.
“Not being able to catch a ball to having a leadership role on the team, it's actually pretty nice,” Fisher said. “I just love the team and, yeah, it's awesome.”
Moving on without Eli Stowers
Stowers was the best weapon to step into this program in a long time, but his reign is over around these parts. Time for the NFL. Time for the biggest stage in football. Time for Vanderbilt to pivot.
Vanderbilt’s new-look tight end room is headlined by veteran Cole Spence–who is expected to be a more high-volume pass catcher–and will be aided by East Carolina transfer Jayvontay Conner, Morehouse transfer Maurice Veney and former Vanderbilt quarterback Walter Taylor.
Expecting that group to replace Stowers is somewhat unrealistic, but it’s got to give Vanderbilt something. Beck–who has always used tight ends with high volume–appears to believe that they will.
“We lost a ton of production,” Beck said, “And so it's not so much about trying to replace it. It's more about finding the identity of identity of this team, and who are guys that we need to find ways to get them to football. And so that's where we want to put them in all those different situations, give them an opportunity to compete against the defense and then see what they can do.”
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_(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, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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