Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea celebrates the Birmingham Bowl in the stands

On By Littum

Vanderbilt football head coach Clark Lea took to the stands at Protective Stadium where he continued to celebrate with fans after Commodores won the Birmingham Bowl on Friday night, according to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Vanderbilt (7-6) defeated Georgia Tech, 35-27, in the bowl game, giving the Commodores their first winning season since 2013. That season, under former coach James Franklin, Vanderbilt also won the same bowl that was then. point called the BBVOA Compass Bowl.

Quarterback Diego Pavia was named the game’s most valuable player for his performance. After the game, Pavia stated that he would return and be the Commodores’ signal caller in the 2025 season, provided Lea and Jerry Kill were still members of the Vanderbilt football staff at that time. He has no plans to enter the transfer portal right now.

More: With Vandy’s Diego Pavia set to return, Jerry Kill says he’s ‘not going anywhere’ | Estes

Lea had finished his previous three seasons with records of 2-10 in 2021, 5-7 in 2022 and finally a 2-10 record in 2023 before turning things around during the 2024 season. He entered this past season on a 10-game losing streak.

This season included a upset win over Alabama, which was ranked no. 1 in the Associated Press poll. However, Vanderbilt entered the bowl having lost four of its last five games to end the regular season.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.