The Era of Dismissing Vanderbilt Athletics Is Over – On3

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Raise your hands if you’ve heard these statements before, Commodores fans. 
“Vanderbilt’s not a real SEC school.” 
“Nobody in the NFL is going to draft a Vanderbilt player.” 
“Nobody cares about Vanderbilt outside of Nashville.” 
“Vanderbilt is just not relevant in College Sports.”
People still say these things, even though Vanderbilt went 10-2 in football, made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Men’s Tournament, and the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Women’s Tournament. These remarks spiral even though Eli Stowers was selected in the Second Round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the league’s biggest brands. People still try to treat the Commodores like the irrelevant stepchild, even with Jared Curtis rocking a Vanderbilt hat in the opening scene of Nate Bargatze’s “The Breadwinner.” One of the biggest movies in America, starring arguably the world’s most famous comedian. And a Vanderbilt player happens to be in the opening scene. 
These statements and actions are common symptoms of VDS, Vanderbilt Dismissal Syndrome. An ailment where the infected dismiss all achievements of Vanderbilt Athletics, regardless of the facts. While there have been great strides in treating VDS in the year of our Lord 2026, there is still work to be done. Despite the near-universal success of Vanderbilt Athletics in the last two years, there are still cases of VDS on sports talk radio, message boards, online articles, and pregame shows. It is an epidemic in East Tennessee, with new hotspots around the SEC in Auburn, LSU, and Tuscaloosa.
Minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day, those with VDS are being exposed for what they truly are. Morons. Nitwits with their heads in the sand. Fools who are worthy of ridicule. 
In the NIL/Transfer Portal era, five words sum it up: “Vanderbilt is good at sports.” That’s it. That’s the thesis. That’s the tweet. 
“Same old Vanderbilt” is dead. It was declared dead on arrival when Diego Pavia went into a victory formation against No. 1 Alabama nearly two years ago. That was the West End Big Bang. It was the single most significant event in the modern era at Vanderbilt University. It reignited a fan base. It inspired an administration to fully invest in athletics. But most of all, it exorcised a host of past demons. 
The Alabama win was not a one-off. It was just the beginning. The Commodores have had a viable, competitive, and strong Athletics Department since that date. It is no longer factually accurate to say that Vanderbilt is at the bottom of the SEC or that the Commodores can’t compete in the NIL era. 
Vanderbilt Football has played postseason games for two straight years. Vanderbilt Basketball is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and is gearing up for what could be a deep run in March. Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball just won two NCAA Tournament games and is quickly closing the gap with South Carolina and UCONN as an elite program. Although Vanderbilt Baseball has slipped, the Commodores will be back in the postseason. The jury’s out on whether Tim Corbin can get back to Omaha, but the Vandy Boys will make the tournament again. 
At a time when investment in NCAA Athletics has never been more important, Vanderbilt has gone all in. It’s no longer a fun bonus to compete for championships. It’s a demand and a constant hunger. A change that many Commodores fans have waited their whole lives for. A shift that is flipping the script on common narratives in NCAA Athletics.
Vanderbilt’s star power across the board in the major sports is as strong as ever. 
Tyler Tanner is one of the best point guards in the country. His return to Vanderbilt was not just a local story. It was a national one that had several pundits putting the Commodores in next year’s Top 15, or even higher. 
Mikayla Blakes is going to be the face of Women’s Basketball in the next couple of years. As a sophomore, she broke records set by Caitlin Clark. This offseason, she put in some work with Team USA and is honing her craft as one of the country’s most complete players. In the 2026-2027 season, Blakes is poised to make another run at National Player of the Year. 
Brodie Johnston is the best two-way third baseman in College Baseball. He hits nuclear bombs out of whatever stadium he plays in. He has a magnetic glove and a rocket arm any time the ball is hit his way. Johnston could be the next MLB star at the hot corner whenever he decides to go pro. While baseball is more of a niche sport than basketball or football, NCAA Baseball fans know who Johnston is.
But one star that could easily eclipse them all if he lives up to the hype is Jared Curtis. Curtis has all the physical tools you could ask for in a quarterback. It’s as if he were created in a laboratory. Clark Lea himself has said that he hasn’t seen throws like Curtis’s since Lea played with Jay Cutler. Curtis won’t have a freshman year like Diego Pavia’s 2025 campaign, but if he progresses the way I think he can, Vanderbilt Football’s ceiling will rise to a completely different level in the years to come.
To win championships, you need stars. Vanderbilt has no shortage of stars on its teams. If God forbid, Tanner, Blakes, Johnston, or Curtis ever decided to enter the transfer portal, every elite SEC program in their respective sports would come calling. The waterfall of notifications would be nonstop. That’s when you truly know your teams are competitive. When other teams and programs want what you have. 
The Commodores have never been more relevant around the country. Go on social media and look at the lists of podcasts and sports shows that have interviewed Clark Lea, Diego Pavia, Eli Stowers, Jared Curtis, Mark Byington, Cade McConnell, Shea Ralph, or Mikayla Blakes. ESPN, the Paul Finebaum Show, the SEC Network, Barstool Sports, and the Pat McAfee Show. All of which have national juice. That doesn’t happen by accident. 
For years, Vanderbilt has struggled to shake the snooty, country club image. An image that has led to decades of mockery with how historically bad the football program was. And it spilled over into basketball before Byington and Ralph were hired during the Drew, Stackhouse, and White years. But that narrative has begun to fall flat on its face.
It’s hard to make the argument that Vanderbilt is stuck up and sucks when you see Diego Pavia easily breaking down formations to the delight of Jon Gruden. It becomes challenging to make that case when you hear Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie tell Eli Stowers that he’s everything Philadelphia wants in a player. The task becomes tall when Georgia leaks Jared Curtis’ commitment news after Kirby Smart is pissed off that he flipped. The going gets tough when Mark Byington gets put on the short list for the North Carolina job and then stays in Nashville. It becomes an uphill battle when Cade McConnell talks at length with Will Compton and Taylor Lewan about how hard Vanderbilt’s practices are and the fire the team has on Bussin’ with the Boys episodes. It becomes nearly impossible to ignore when the UCONN staff gave Shea Ralph a standing ovation after she won the National Coach of the Year Award. The difficulty level ramps up to Hall of Fame when pundits gush about Mikayla Blakes and her approach to the game of basketball.
You may not like the new Vanderbilt logo (sometimes I miss the Star V). But make no mistake. Those really paying attention to NCAA Sports around the country know what it represents. Excellence.
I want to issue a challenge to Vanderbilt fans everywhere. Don’t let the naysayers brush you away or dismiss you. For too long, Vanderbilt fans have politely taken s*** from a lot of people. That gravy train stops now. 
To be clear, as an attorney, I am not asking anyone to break the law by getting into physical altercations or starting shouting matches that get the cops called. Don’t make a scene. I am not asking anyone to start trouble. But what I am saying is this. In a discussion of NCAA Sports, don’t let anyone get away with the lazy take of “Vanderbilt is bad and doesn’t matter.”
In moments where someone tries to dismiss Vanderbilt Athletics, here’s what I suggest. Show them some highlights from Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers. Put on the clip of Eli Stowers getting drafted. Show them some clips of Tyler Tanner and Mikayla Blakes. Show them the transfer portal and recruiting classes for basketball and football over the last two-plus years and the projected future classes. Show them the ESPN College Gameday show from the 2025 season. Then show them the opening scene from The Breadwinner. 
Once you’ve done all those things, ask those people to look you dead in the eyes and tell you with a straight face that Vanderbilt is a bad sports school. See what they say. It won’t be you who looks like an idiot. 
At the end of the day, there will always be doubters. It’s one of the beauties of sports. There are some people so take-committed that they cannot see what’s in front of their eyes. 
It used to be the safest bet in NCAA Sports that Vanderbilt University wasn’t a serious sports school. It was the College Sports equivalent of saying, “The New York Jets suck.” A simple, safe, and easy talking point that took no effort or research. Something that would be proven true time and time again. But now, days are gone with Lea, Byington, and Ralph leading the way for the Commodores. Times have changed.
For a second, take away the Vanderbilt logo and look at what Vanderbilt Football and Men’s and Women’s Basketball have done over the last two-plus years. Look at the win totals. The recruits. The postseason play. The national attention. The returning star players and incoming freshmen. The NIL money is being spent. The resources are directed towards facilities. Take away the logo and the consensus would be, “That school is good at sports,” “That athletic department is doing it right, or “That school has adapted and is succeeding in the NIL era.” 
If it were any other school with the same metrics, critics would be laughed out of the room for dismissing those accomplishments. That same logic should be applied to what’s happening on the West End. Vanderbilt is checking all of those boxes and then some. 
To those who still say, “Vanderbilt sucks,” “Vandy won’t win anything,” and “Vanderbilt can’t compete in the NIL era,” you have a choice to make. 
You can stay stuck in the past. You can keep pounding your chest and yelling “Same old Vandy” to your heart’s content. You can ignore the abundance of data from the last two plus years. You can disregard the mountains of cash being poured into the Commodores teams in the major sports. Or you can step foot back into reality. It’s a new world in 2026. A new world where Vanderbilt is consistently good in the major sports and doesn’t suck anymore. 
It’s a simple decision. Either accept the fact that Vanderbilt is good. Or stay stuck in yesteryear and get humiliated more often than not when the ball is snapped or tipped off. When someone’s opinions are based solely on the past, and they ignore the present, they look silly and stupid. The more time that goes by, the dumber and dumber it looks to dismiss Vanderbilt Athletics. 
If you’re an opposing fan heading to a Vandy game, you won’t be getting a fun, worry-free win like in years past. Instead, you’ll have a front row seat to an Athletics Department on the rise. Welcome to the Revolution. Better get used to it. 
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