Clark Lea - Defensive Coordinator

[Dizzyphil]

If he can make ~$5M a year versus ~$1.5, who can blame him. I think we'd all take that. It sucks but it was inevitable. I really hope and expect him to finish the job this year though.

Be surprised if he is paid over $3M a year....


In 2013 - Franklin was hired in at $1.8M a year
In 2016 - Mason was hired in at $2.5M a year




Inflation MAY get Lea in at $3ish a year

 

[IrishLax]

^ This. All. Day. Long.

To add to that, people also don't realize that the "glory" days of franklin also incorporated tons and tons of luck.
He was not only able to let players and the program get away with all kinds of behavior that won't ever be allowed again (the drinking, drugs, and rape culture that prevailed under his tenure), but tennessee, georgia, and florida had some of their worst seasons EVER while he was vandy's coach. I think franklin had one win against a Top-25 team. I know they beat georgia while they were ranked...but georgia was down something like 8 starters and had to use a 3rd string QB. I think franklin beat 2 teams, total, with a winning record in his entire time in Nashville (one being that georgia team). And florida and georgia are trending up, so Lea isn't going to have it tough with them. Tennessee still isn't great, but they're in a much better place than they were during the franklin years. Missouri and kentucky are decent programs that will be tough for Lea to beat. Ole Miss, Lea's permanent opponent from the sec-w, will be decent as well. Lea will have to go 3-1, 4-0 OOC, then get 2 or 3 wins against south carolina, missouri, ole miss, and kentucky to get to the magical 6-7 wins. It ain't happening. Lea is staring down 2 to 5 win seasons at Vandy. And nobody will look to hire him with that record.

Yup, this is all 100% true.

 

[Irishbounty28]

The thing that worries me most is the in game coaching aspect. Lea was very good in game and very successful in halftime adjustments. No doubt Elston could run the same defensive system as a coordinator. I would just be worried about his in game X’s and O’s.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Vandy's 2021 schedule set's up to be (assuming Covid doesn't interfere) :


3-9 / 4-8



ETSU - W
Colorado State - W
Stanford - L
UConn - ?
Florida - L
Ole Miss - L
South Carolina - L
TN - L
GA - L
KY - ?
Missouri - ?


In 2022.... Bama, GA, KY, Missouri, FL then Ole Miss all Back-to-Back and the only home game is FL & Ole Miss......


I hope Lea knows what he is in for.....

 

[Meatloaf]

Yes. Money should never be a factor at ND.

It is a factor, though-just like it's a factor at literally every other school-Bama, Clemson and Ohio State included. Athletics departments have budgets on a finite amount of resources.

 

[Rogue219]

As a football coach? Yeah. Positioned to win games at Vandy? I don't know. Franklin won at Vandy through a weird combination of the SEC East being really down and simply recruiting at a high enough level to compete. In 2012, Franklin lost to every ranked team they played. In 2013, Franklin lost to every ranked team they played except Georgia (who finished the year unranked). So Franklin wasn't really "competing" at Vandy as much as he was capitalizing on a soft schedule and winning the games he could/should win.

Agreed. I really don't think highly of the guy. He is a savvy recruiter and has done well managing the hiring of assistants under him. Apart from that, he's gone missing in big games at Penn State and based on the results of their recruiting versus results on the field he's got a Ron Zook Florida kind of vibe for me.

There was also the rape situation at Vanderbilt while Franklin was coach. He changed his story and I believe got caught in his lie while testifying. Just not a good dude for me.

I think Lea is probably a better football mind than Franklin, but that doesn't mean he can win at Vanderbilt equal or better to what Franklin did. Spot on post.

 

[IrishRazor82]

Be surprised if he is paid over $3M a year....


In 2013 - Franklin was hired in at $1.8M a year
In 2016 - Mason was hired in at $2.5M a year


Inflation MAY get Lea in at $3ish a year

I thought I saw Mason was making $6M a year. If Lea left for $3M I think he made a mistake.

 

[NorthDakota]

If he can get Vandy to .500, he will be there for 3-4 years and get hired by a bigger program

 

[GATTACA!]

It is a factor, though-just like it's a factor at literally every other school-Bama, Clemson and Ohio State included. Athletics departments have budgets on a finite amount of resources.

Derek Mason was making $2.55 million

Brent Venables makes $2.4

Pay the man.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Derek Mason was making $2.55 million

Brent Venables makes $2.4

Pay the man.

You know this isn't about money, right?

 

[Meatloaf]

Derek Mason was making $2.55 million

Brent Venables makes $2.4

Pay the man.

Derek Mason's base pay was 2.55mm. Like ND, Vandy is a private school that doesn't disclose total compensation. By all accounts Mason's total comp was in the $5-6mm range. No coordinator is worth that kind of money.

 

[Irishize]

From ND's POV is that too much of a distraction if he does stay?

IDK. Look how much ND relies on his halftime adjustments. Regardless of whether he stays on or not, the distraction is advantage Clemson

 

[Irish YJ]

As a football coach? Yeah. Positioned to win games at Vandy? I don't know. Franklin won at Vandy through a weird combination of the SEC East being really down and simply recruiting at a high enough level to compete. In 2012, Franklin lost to every ranked team they played. In 2013, Franklin lost to every ranked team they played except Georgia (who finished the year unranked). So Franklin wasn't really "competing" at Vandy as much as he was capitalizing on a soft schedule and winning the games he could/should win.

I think Franklin finished no better than 4th in the SEC-E his 3 years there, which isn't a high bar even now. UGA and FL are the only two I'd put in the "obviously better situation" space right now, so the division isn't really stronger now than back then IMO.

I do agree though, I don't like the fit, and I think he could have found a better landing spot. If 4th place in the division gets him a better job, I'll be a little surprised. If he can take over 3rd, and pick off UGA, FL, or whatever team might be ranked, then maybe.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Derek Mason's base pay was 2.55mm. Like ND, Vandy is a private school that doesn't disclose total compensation. By all accounts Mason's total comp was in the $5-6mm range. No coordinator is worth that kind of money.

Need 5/6 wins to get to a bowl -



Getting a bowl or certain amount of wins gets you bonuses (homes, cars, clothing don't count)




Lea ain't getting no bonuses with Vandy - not with their 'death-row' schedule(s) the next three years....... he's walking into a bad school IMO.

 

[Rogue219]

You know this isn't about money, right?

I am 100% positive that fact is completely lost on him.

 

[Irishize]

I almost reject the entire premise of this question, because how does one measure success at Vandy? An 8-4 regular season is wild success for Vandy... it's happened twice in the past 38 years. Both under James Franklin. Vandy has made 9 bowl games in their history. They've never won 10 games.

Notre Dame is not going to hire an 8-4 coach from Vandy and that is their *ceiling*... I get that the money and title at your alma mater is hard to turn down. I really do. But unless Clark Lea is even better as a HC than he is as a DC he likely just torpedoed his career. Derek Mason was in a similar situation with elite defenses at Stanford... one of the hottest up-and-coming coaches around... and took Vandy to 2 of the 9 bowl games in their history. And he's now unemployed, likely to be a retread in a worse DC situation than the one he left.

The best case scenario for Lea is that he pulls a Pat Fitzgerald, but the SEC is not the Big Ten West... and Vandy isn't even Northwestern. Which seems crazy to say about a Tier 4 football school, but it's true. It's arguably more of a dead end job than Kansas or Rutgers.

Gerry DiNardo got the LSU gig based on his “success” at Vandy...which came with a losing record.

 

[brewdog_14527]

First of all, good luck to him. I do find it interesting that he came with Elko, but will get a head coaching job before Elko. I wish him well, but it does seem that he may have been better off taking the Kirby Smart approach, and wait for a bigger job to show up. Maybe have Coach Kelly give him some responsibilities that go with head coaching (maybe this was already done) and wait for something bigger to open up. I don't know if he torpedoed his career, but this almost seems like a backwards or lateral move, other than the pay.

 

[Irish YJ]

Vandy's 2021 schedule set's up to be (assuming Covid doesn't interfere) :


3-9 / 4-8



ETSU - W
Colorado State - W
Stanford - L
UConn - ?
Florida - L
Ole Miss - L
South Carolina - L
TN - L
GA - L
KY - ?
Missouri - ?


In 2022.... Bama, GA, KY, Missouri, FL then Ole Miss all Back-to-Back and the only home game is FL & Ole Miss......


I hope Lea knows what he is in for.....

I could see the following though too...

6-3 + 3?

ETSU - W
@Colorado State - W
Stanford - W
UConn - W
@Florida - L
@Ole Miss - L
@South Carolina - ?
@ TN - ?
GA - L
KY - W
MissST - ?
Missouri - W

 

[Irishbounty28]

I’d be surprised if Lea wasn’t successful at Vandy. I am well aware it isn’t a top notch football school and it will be an uphill battle. One thing Lea has going for him is his history/background. Dude has worked for everything he has gotten up to this point so you can guarantee he will do the same as the Head guy at Vandy.

He just seems to have that ability to get people to buy in and follow him. Natural leadership which will bode well as a head coach. Good luck to him!

 

[Rogue219]

Dave Cohen has been the Wake DL coach since 2014. He's been a DC in the past at Delaware and Hofstra. 54 yrs old.

I don't know if he's viable candidate, but he stands out among those who have been with Elko over the years, ala Clark Lea.

 

[arrowryan]

I'm kinda on bored with keeping things in house and continuing the defensive philosophy. I like both Elston and Joseph as DC.

 

[NDRock]

I think he’ll do a great job recruiting to his systems, field a tough, physical, well coached team, and win 5-7 games a year. It will be interesting if he has success. Will he want to be a Pat Fitzgerald or will he chase a “better” job.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

If Lea takes the Vandy HC, he is making a good decision. He will be paid reasonable well and Vandy is still a collegiate football program. Little pressure to win immediately, and anything above .500 will be a success.

The other reason is that he recognizes that next year ND will be rebuilding. Our defensive personnel has not been this good and deep for awhile. He needs to make a jump now or an opportunity like this may not come again.

Wish him well if he decides to move on.

 

[rikkitikki08]

I don’t blame him, good for him. I’m glad he’s getting a chance.

Also to the people complaining remember Michigan currently has no assistant coaches up for head coaching jobs. It’s a good problem to have

 

[GATTACA!]

You know this isn't about money, right?

Of course it's not just about the money. But you should even the variables that you can control. Getting a huge pay bump, being an HC, and doing it at your Alma mater sounds great. Does it sound so great if the salary is a lateral move?

 

[Rogue219]

I think he’ll do a great job recruiting to his systems, field a tough, physical, well coached team, and win 5-7 games a year. It will be interesting if he has success. Will he want to be a Pat Fitzgerald or will he chase a “better” job.

I think he can.

It is completely within the realm of possibility he'll succeed outside of Notre Dame, which many of our followers simply don't want to believe right now. Everyone knows Vanderbilt is a tough place to win. Clark Lea probably knows it too. Christ, he PLAYED there, guys. Not all that long ago, too. Clark Lea probably also has a completely different mentality than 99% of Notre Dame message board dwellers when it comes to his own self confidence and likely to some extent his own ego.

He's 38 years old and gets to be the HC at the school he went to in the city he grew up. There is more to that equation than their losing history and money. He's also probably not thinking in the back of his mind right now, "If I do well enough in the next few years, I can replace Brian when he leaves ND."

 

[GATTACA!]

I am 100% positive that fact is completely lost on him.

 

[Rogue219]

You should have started a Go Fund Me Page to keep him, tough guy.

Being a head coach at 38 and not having to answer to anyone other than the A.D. might have been appealing to him.

 

[Rogue219]

Also to the people complaining remember Michigan currently has no assistant coaches up for head coaching jobs. It’s a good problem to have

They must be paying them really well. LOL

 

[GATTACA!]

You should have started a Go Fund Me Page to keep him, tough guy.

Being a head coach at 38 and not having to answer to anyone other than the A.D. might have been appealing to him.

Yeah I could start a Go Fund Me, or the school with a $14 billion dollar endowment could just find 3 million under one of their couch cushions and make it happen.