Why Clark Lea is Optimistic About Vanderbilt Football's Defensive Line Play Heading Into 2025

Clark Lea knows that to improve his 3-13 November record as Vanderbilt’s head coach, he had to hone in on the area that wins and loses games during that time of year.

Lea returns 78% of his offensive production and 77% of his defensive production, but if his group can’t hold up in the trenches when bodies hurt, warmups take longer and depth is tested then the expectations he has for his team are futile.

“The intentionality is about winning in November,” Lea said to a group of local media members before Vanderbilt’s main stage turn at SEC Media Days. “In our league you can't do that unless you can win up front.”

Lea told Vandy on SI in June that he believes he has the best offensive line of his tenure in 2025 and while he hasn’t made the same declaration about his defensive line, his program appeared to be intentional about adding depth to that room in the spring portal window after the departure of De’Marion Thomas.

Vanderbilt has had its fair share of productive defensive linemen under Lea, but that group has often worn down when the weather has gotten colder and depth is really tested. His intention is for that to be different in 2025.

Lea watched as Vanderbilt lost multi-score games to South Carolina and Tennessee at FirstBank Stadium last November partly as a result of his team’s inability to get its opponent behind the down consistently. That memory has stuck with Vanderbilt’s defensive-minded head coach and it hasn’t sat well.

“It was too often first and 10, second and five, third and two and convert,” Lea said. “That’s not going to be a formula for us. We have to be able to get teams off schedule, we have to be solid throughout.”

Vanderbilt has given that talk to returning rotational defensive linemen Zaylin Wood, Yilanan Ouattara, Linus Zunk and Glenn Seabrooks while returning prominent pass rushers Miles Capers and Khordae Sydnor.

Lea’s program has supplemented that returning group with Alabama transfer EDGE rusher Keanu Koht and interior defensive line transfers Mason Nelson, SINGH and Jaylon Stone. All those guys in one room has encouraged Lea.

“Am I optimistic? of course” Lea said. “We return enough experience and we return enough snaps to know that our front line guys understand how we play. What we've seen from the additions to this point has led us to believe that we've improved in that area, and we'll find out more, obviously, as we go.”

Perhaps Lea won’t have a full grasp of how good his offensive and defensive lines truly are until they’re worn down and have to perform in November.

But, as he sat with a group of local media and reflected on what he and his returning staff members built, he couldn’t help but be hopeful that the frontline depth he’s desired for years is finally in his program.

“Any coach is not optimistic in July,” Lea said, “Probably needs to be doing something else.”