Game 1: Virginia Tech (0-0) at Vanderbilt (0-0)
When: Saturday, Aug. 31 • 11 a.m. CT
Where: FirstBank Stadium • Nashville, Tenn.
Watch: ESPN (Roy Philpott, Sam Acho and Taylor Davis)
Listen: 102.5 The Game (Andrew Allegretta, Norman Jordan and Kevin Ingram)
Lift The Lid
• Vanderbilt opens its 135th football season on Saturday, hosting Virginia Tech at FirstBank Stadium. The Commodores have won their season opener each of the last two seasons. It marks the first lid-lifter against a nonconference, Power 4 team since 2010 when the Dores opened against Northwestern. Vandy opened against SEC teams in both 2019 (Georgia) and 2020 (Texas A&M).
New Look: The Staff
• Clark Lea, a 2004 Vanderbilt graduate, enters his fourth season at the helm of the Commodores with new faces joining the staff. Lea takes over defensive coordinator responsibilities, while Tim Beck is the team’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Other new staff members include Jerry Kill (chief consultant to the head coach/senior offensive advisor), Jeff LePak (special teams coordinator and tight ends), Ghalli Muhammad-Lankford (run game coordinator and running backs), Melvin Rice (safeties), Jamaal Richardson (cornerbacks), Chris Klenakis (offensive line), Steve Gregory (senior consultant/associate defensive coordinator) and Seth Payne (senior defensive analyst/pass rush specialist). Outside the lines, Lea welcomed new director of football sports performance Robert Stiner to oversee strength and conditioning efforts, as well as assistant football sports performance director Ian Bures.
New Look, Part II: The Roster
• Vanderbilt’s roster features 51 new student-athletes who were not part of the team in 2023. There are just 12 players remaining that did not originally commit to fourth-year head coach Clark Lea and staff. The 2024 recruiting class included four four-star commits and gave Lea’s three signing classes the highest three-year average recruiting ranking for Vandy in over a decade.
• Incoming transfers include 2023 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year Diego Pavia at quarterback, as well as 47 career starts on the offensive line (Steven Losoya, Chase Mitchell, Steven Hubbard) and 32 career starts on the defensive line (Zaylin Wood, Khordae Sydnor).
New Look, Part III: The League
• The Southeastern Conference enters its 16-team era this fall with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas. With the new teams, the SEC has eliminated the east and west…