Vanderbilt Football's Next Big Question: Does Clark Lea Have to Make Some Difficult Coaching Staff Decisions?

Vanderbilt Football's Next Big Question: Does Clark Lea Have to Make Some Difficult Coaching Staff Decisions?

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NASHVILLE—Clark Lea paused for a second and appeared to be deciding on how honest he should be. He was mulling over how to describe what was racing through his head and knew he couldn’t be entirely unfiltered.

The question was simple, but it appeared to strike a nerve with Lea. It didn’t upset Lea as much as it pierced directly into the topic that he appeared to have on his mind most. Lea probably wished it didn’t come up, but he’s never been one to back away from a difficult question. He hasn’t quite spoken his mind in the way he did following this question, though.

Lea was asked why he thought that Vanderbilt’s defense sputtered out after putting on a show in the first two drives of Vanderbilt’s eventual loss against Kentucky and whether he thought that was a trend.

His answer, with the caveat that he wanted to watch it on film mixed in?

“What I experienced in the moment,” Lea said, “They moved down their sheet faster than we moved down our sheet.”

Lea didn’t say it directly, but his insinuation was that his defense and–presumably–Vanderbilt defensive coord...