What Vanderbilt’s Top Priority of Improvement is on Defense During Fall Camp

It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out what the messaging of Vanderbilt defensive coordinator Steve Gregory is for his players heading into fall camp.

For all the experience Vanderbilt has on defense and for all the bend but don’t break tendencies the Commodores had on defense a season ago, there is one area that Vanderbilt struggled mightily and wants to put a stop to this fall: third down defense.

“It’s been the emphasis really since last year, so we have got to get better at that,” Vanderbilt EDGE Miles Capers said after the first day of fall camp.

Vanderbilt was 14th in the SEC last season in third down defense and was 108th in college football in third down defense, only Florida and Arkansas were worse. The Commodores allowed 78 third down conversions out of 181 attempts. That means opponents converted a little over 43% of third downs.

If Vanderbilt does want to take itself to a height it has never seen before, that must be the first thing that improves. There is no other option.

So, how does Vanderbilt right that ship?

It is going to have to start with the Commodores’ pass defense. While Vanderbilt had one of the better rush defenses a season ago, it was 116th in the country in passing yards allowed with 249.4 passing yards allowed per game.

To fix that, it will take everything from getting into the opposing backfield to defensive scheming to better play on the back end of the defense.

“That’s been an area of understanding how to create and do some different things within the front and manipulate protections. Overall, improving our pass defense,” Gregory said. “Finishing in two-minute situations and really focusing on having a really good package there and understanding how we need to play situational football in order to make sure we’re limiting points in those critical moments.”

In four of the final five games to end the 2025 season, Vanderbilt allowed 46% or better conversion rates on third downs. Three of those four games, Vanderbilt allowed 50% or more conversion rates on the key down. That simply will not be good enough this upcoming season.

The players on defense are well aware of third down improvement the coaching staff is demanding out of them. In fact, Capers mentioned needing to improve on third down multiple times throughout his post-practice media availability.

From a technique standpoint, Vanderbilt has worked on their initial moves off the line of scrimmage to help get to the quarterback faster. While there will be a point made in limiting passing yards this year, there will be as much of a point made in getting after opposing quarterbacks this season.

The Commodores feel like they have that capability, however. Both Gregory and Capers named multiple guys that they believe will have opportunities to make an impact in pass rush this season.

“We got a lot of guys that can help. Brian Allen, Mason Carter, Edwin [Kolegne]. Really the whole EDGE room can really help with our edge rushing and on third down, so that’ll be good,” Capers said.

While the experience Vanderbilt has on defense is going to help to some extent, it is going to need more than just that to see third down numbers improve. Whether that be the talent it added through the portal or the skills of Vanderbilt’s linebacker room taking the next step in pass rush, the Commodores will need to have multiple guys outside of Capers getting in opposing backfields in the moments that matter most.

The good news is that there is still a month left to go before Vanderbilt kicks off its 2026 season.

"We'll continue to evolve that through training camps and see who emergses as we start to do some one-on-one pass rush stuff and more live stuff against the offensive line and obviously try to create packages that put guys in positions where they can go have success," Gregory said.

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