Coaches / Head coach / Clark Lea
Form · last two seasons
71
performing to its level
Rating68recent
Peak71best 5 yrs
Career62whole career
confidence
Clark Lea
Head Coach · Vanderbilt
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
71
continuity at Vanderbilt · early
Seasons here6
Programs3
Stints4
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
Chemistry
vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.
As head coach
Rating68Form71▲ 3 over-performingPeak71Career62
2021–2026 · 6 seasonsRecord 26-36National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)Career: too early to rank all-time (8+ seasons as a head coach)
- Rating 68: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 71: best five-season stretch, 2022–2026 at Vanderbilt (24-26, 1 top-10 season by team strength), taking over an average program.
Over expectation · 2016 on67Results against what his rosters' talent predicted (program lift, evaluation, recruiting, staff building, game management).
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
Program lift70
Evaluation61
Results66
Recruiting56
Staff building57
Game management80
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Vanderbilt | 0-0 | #69 | +0.08 SD |
| 2025 | Vanderbilt | 10-3 | #10 | +1.38 SD |
| 2024 | Vanderbilt | 7-6 | #36 | +0.66 SD |
| 2023 | Vanderbilt | 2-10 | #110 | -1.00 SD |
| 2022 | Vanderbilt | 5-7 | #75 | -0.23 SD |
| 2021 | Vanderbilt | 2-10 | #107 | -0.96 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As defensive coordinator
Rating80Peak84
His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Notre Dame | 0.10 | -0.00 | 0.54 |
| 2019 | Notre Dame | 0.14 | 0.05 | 1.18 |
| 2018 | Notre Dame | 0.12 | 0.06 | 1.18 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.