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Clark Lea

 David Russell/Nashville Post

Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea, who last year led the team to its most wins since 2018, has signed a contract extension, the school announced Monday.

The number of years in the contract extension was not specified.

A Nashville native and former Vanderbilt football player, Lea was hired in December 2020, taking over a program that went 0-9 in Derek Mason’s final season as head coach.

The Commodores went 2-10 in 2021, but improved to 5-7 last season, the best mark for Vanderbilt since a 6-7 season in 2018.

In 2022, the Commodores snapped a 26-game Southeastern Conference losing streak when they defeated No. 24 Kentucky, 24-21, on the road. A week later, Vanderbilt downed Florida, 31-24, the program’s first win over the Gators since 2013 and the first home win over Florida since 1988.

The Commodores finished the season by losing 56-0 to Tennessee.

Vanderbilt scored four defensive touchdowns in 2022, the highest total in the SEC and the fourth-highest in the country. The Commodores were penalized just 63 times last year, the lowest figure in the conference.

“I’m thrilled with our football program’s development on and off of the field under Clark Lea’s leadership,” Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee said in a release. “He is relentless in his commitment to build a foundation that yields sustainable success. He approaches each day with the pride of an alumnus who personally understands the opportunity that lies before us, and the determination of a coach and leader who has the vision to fulfill it.”

A Montgomery Bell Academy alum, Lea came to Vanderbilt from Notre Dame, where he served as defensive coordinator and helped the Fighting Irish to undefeated regular seasons in 2018 and 2020. In 2020, Lea was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach.

“Vanderbilt is home; it is such an honor for me to lead our football program,” Lea said. “The only way that we accomplish the mission we have set forth for Vanderbilt Football is with the vision and support from Chancellor [Daniel] Diermeier and Candice Lee. To have them acknowledge the progress we’ve made to this point, and to commit to seeing us push further on our journey means everything to me.”