Vandy's Clark Lea reimagined how to coach current CFB players, and it's paying off

FmrMarine

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I think Lea is just accepting reality on reality's terms. College football is the NFL. He's taking a very NFL approach and it's working.
 

soflagator

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I still think player development is gonna win you the most games. Just like in pro sports. Keeping talented young guys bought in is gonna be the kicker. That being said , it's like building your team through the draft. Invest in your own players and then supplement with the portal.

This. The last 4 NC winners have been teams that dominated recruiting and developing, using the portal sparingly and building a roster not strictly based on short term compensation but a future in football. Last year especially was the complete opposite of the year-to-year NIL mindset. Then you have the flash in the pan teams like last year fsu and currently year miami. Neither have proven they can win anything or sustain their success. I’ll give Lea and VU credit for how they look, but building anything around their model seems foolish at this point.
 

Durty South Swamp

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This. The last 4 NC winners have been teams that dominated recruiting and developing, using the portal sparingly and building a roster not strictly based on short term compensation but a future in football. Last year especially was the complete opposite of the year-to-year NIL mindset. Then you have the flash in the pan teams like last year fsu and currently year miami. Neither have proven they can win anything or sustain their success. I’ll give Lea and VU credit for how they look, but building anything around their model seems foolish at this point.
What Clark lea is doing now is what norvell has been doing for 3 seasons. It will give you an initial boost, but that's usually followed by a horrendous crash and burn.
 

Swamp Donkey

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I think Lea is just accepting reality on reality's terms. College football is the NFL. He's taking a very NFL approach and it's working.
You dont think the NFL teaches players and develops them? You think the Patriots and many of the other successful franchises somehow have undrafted free agents starting and becoming All pro players because they're not teaching and developing?

This whole concept is loser talk. He's perfect for Vandy.

Kuuunts like Clark Lea and Mullen "give up on" recruiting because they suck at it and couldn't do it well even if they tried.
 

AlexDaGator

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Lea is a good DC. He was a good DC at Notre Dame.

Lea doesn't know sh!t about offense, but he's not stupid.

He saw that lowly New Mexico State went in to Auburn last year and beat the crap out of them 31-10. They didn't eke out a victory on a miraculous blocked punt and return or something, they dominated Auburn.

Lea was smart enough (and humble enough) to pick up the phone and ask how a bunch of zero stars bent Auburn over at their own place.

Jerry Kill was the HC at NMS. Man knows how to coach football. He had an OC named Tim Beck, a QB named Diego Pavia, and a TE named Stowers. Maybe some of these names are starting to sound familiar.

Kill knew he was outmanned but he was a competitive MF and wanted to win. He hired Tim Beck as OC and installed the Pistol Offense, which is an unholy cross between the shotgun and the venerable I formation. The Pistol was made famous by Chris Ault at Nevada (and a certain National Anthem kneeling jackass who won't be named).

It's hard to run out of the shotgun with the RB on the left or right of the QB getting the ball far behind the line of scrimmage without a running start. In the pistol, the QB is lined up closer to the line (still shotgun snap though) with the RB behind him. It's easier to run out of and it can be deadly if you have a QB who can run. Combine that with a zone blocking scheme for the OL and if you coach it right, you can win even if you're outmanned. It's hard to prepare for this scheme in just one week if you don't face it regularly (which is why Army and Navy are both still undefeated, nobody runs triple option anymore).

With Vandy not having the talent of other SEC teams, Lea figured this was the ticket for him. Instead of just copying the system, Lea stole the whole New Mexico State offense from HC Jerry Kill to OC Tim Beck to QB Diego Pavia and like 4 other players, dressed them in black and gold, and moved them to Nashville. Boom. Instant offense. They already knew the coaches, terminology, and system, and they were tough, hard-nosed kids who weren't afraid of the logo on the other team's helmet. It was plug-and-play.

Good on him.

He ain't the coach for Florida though. DC maybe someday, HC no way.

The offense is a gimmick like the Wake Forest slow mesh. It's not a recipe for a return to Gator greatness and championships.




Alex.
 

Durty South Swamp

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Double Gator Dad

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Game day had a piece on Clark Lea yesterday morning. He explained what he means by “rethinking everything” he does this past offseason.

He decided that the whole model of player development as athletes, students and people doesn’t work anymore. He’d invest in players and they’d just leave. So he went out and found the best QB he could, hired that OC and the recently retired HC as an analyst or whatever. He quit starting meetings with team building stuff and now goes straight to game planning.

All of which is very sad to me, but very true.

Why spend all that money on “Gator Made” and so forth? Why spend money on anything but compensation, recruiting and keeping them “eligible” - whatever that means now.

I’m afraid these undercurrents are washing away the foundations of college football. Conferences, rivalries and bowl games are eroded already. If the vision/myth of our school ties doesn’t matter to the players, why should it matter to me? If I were a big-money booster, I’d question what I’m boosting.

To be consistent, that should morph into owner and investor.

I have been saying this same thing about the “Gator Made” program. What a complete waste of time, energy and money.
Why does UF believe that playing the role of parent to these guys provides any meaningful results for UF?
Let the same people that negotiate NIL for these mercenaries, I mean players, buy them suits and take them to Europe.
What an anachronism we have become.
 

Tunaboat

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Vandy's Clark Lea reimagined how to coach current CFB players​

First time I've seen "reimagined" tied to something that wasn't a total failure.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Vandy's Clark Lea reimagined how to coach current CFB players​

First time I've seen "reimagined" tied to something that wasn't a total failure.
He reimagines just getting G5 garbage out of the transfer portal. It worked once for Cornrows Mike at Clowntown also. We will see how often rolling the dice works.
 

oxrageous

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He reimagines just getting G5 garbage out of the transfer portal. It worked once for Cornrows Mike at Clowntown also. We will see how often rolling the dice works.
It's Vandy. Do you expect a coach to be able to fill a roster full of 5 star recruits out of high school?
 

URGatorBait

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It's Vandy. Do you expect a coach to be able to fill a roster full of 5 star recruits out of high school?
If swonkey isn't incessantly schitting on everything.....is it even swonkey? :lol:
 

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