Breaking Down Clark Lea as the Potential Next Virginia Tech Head Coach

Could Tech poach Vanderbilt's coach?

Sep 20, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea paces the sidelines against the Georgia State Panthers during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

It's been over a week since the Virginia Tech Hokies fired Brent Pry. Ever since then, a ton of names have been floated around as a potential replacement in Blacksburg. Shane Beamer, Michael Vick, Alex Golesh and Bob Chesney are all popular candidates, but there's one that's flying a bit under the radar: Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea.

Earlier this week, On3's Pete Nakos named Lea as a candidate for the job. The Hokies have seen what Lea can do first and, having lost to him twice in the past two seasons. He's completely turned Vanderbilt's program around, and would take a lot of swaying to get him to leave, but with the increased budget coming into effect, they have the money to make him consider a move.

Lea's Background

Lea's connection with Vanderbilt goes way back to when he was a student. He played football with the Commodores from 2002-2004, and after a long coaching career, he made his way back to Vanderbilt in 2021.

Lea's coaching career began as a graduate assistant at UCLA in 2006 before moving to South Dakota State to serve as their linebackers coach. He stayed there for two years before returning to UCLA as a graduate assistant in 2009, and he was later promoted to linebackers coach in 2010.

After UCLA Head Coach Rick Neuheisel was fired in 2011, Lea was not retained and joined the Bowling Green coaching staff under Mike Elko. He spent one season there before he was offered the linebackers coach job at Syracuse. A few years later, he was offered the same job with Wake Forest and reunited Elko.

In 2017, Lea moved to Notre Dame to serve as the Fighting Irish's linebackers coach under Head Coach Brian Kelly. In 2018, he was promoted to defensive coordinator for the first time in his career. He'd stay in South Bend for three years before he was offered the Vanderbilt job in December of 2020.

In his first three seasons with Vanderbilt, Lea won just two SEC games and felt his seat begin to heat up. Fortunately, Diego Pavia helped turn things around and the Commodores won seven games in 2024, which included an upset over Alabama. In 2025, Lea and the Commodores are off to a 4-0 start, which includes a big SEC win over South Carolina.

Pluses

Sep 13, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea waves to his team’s fans following their win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Lea is a proven program builder. He completely turned the Vanderbilt program, which was the laughing stock of the SEC for years, into a contender. It took some time, but Vanderbilt is ranked, and while the SEC Championship might be asking a lot, the Commodores will pull off a few more upsets this year.

Minuses

Lea is going to be incredibly hard to get. He's a Vanderbilt alum and has shown no interest in leaving Nashville anytime soon. However, it's only a matter of time before a larger program comes knocking and offers him a ton of money to leave, so why shouldn't it be Virginia Tech?