Vanderbilt Football Still Looking For Offensive Niche After Drastic Style Change in 2025 – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Clark Lea and Tim Beck have vivid memories of playing keep away from No. 1 Alabama and holding the Crimson Tide off just long enough to secure the most meaningful win in program history, but that’s not them anymore. Sometimes it will be, but Lea and Beck have evolved past the need to consistently run an option-esque offense. 
Vanderbilt was significantly more explosive in year two under Beck than it was in 2024 and could conceivably win games without winning the time of possession battle. In some ways, its styles of play year over year were foils of each other. So, what’s next for this Vanderbilt offense as Beck adjusts his playcalling to a Diego Pavia-less group? 
That doesn’t appear to be decided yet. 
“I would see this year being a blend,” Lea said in regard to the two styles. “I would see it not necessarily oscillating back and forth, but, having that plan to win and having it include game control elements where we're going to have a physical run game and anytime you start with a physical run game, you're talking about the ability to control the clock.
But, one of the things that's hard is that 15 play drives are great–they're just hard to maintain. And so how can we use these game control elements and a physical run game to in time open up the explosive passes? 
And we have the personnel to do that, too.”
Vanderbilt lost Pavia, star tight end Eli Stowers, its best take the top off option Tre Richardson and four of its five starting offensive linemen. As a result, the onus is on Beck to find a way forward. 
Beck appears to know that he can lean on veteran running backs Sedrick Alexander and MK Young as well as standout wide receiver Junior Sherrill–who Beck calls the leader of the receiver room–and veteran tight end Cole Spence–who projects to have a much more significant receiving role than he’s had at any point in his career. Beyond that, though, he’s stuck searching for young players and transfer-portal additions to emerge as real factors. 
Vanderbilt expects leaps from homegrown receivers Tristen Brown, Joseph McVay, Brycen Coleman and Kayleb Barnett as well as Old Dominion transfer Ja’Cory Thomas. Even if it doesn’t have a second or third receiver emerge undeniably, Vanderbilt thinks it can still be explosive. 
“It's just about execution,” Spence said. “You can make a counter play explosive if you block everybody upright, and we're running a lot of iso and those kinds of things. But then when you get a first play first down, then we probably want to go tempo. We're going to be running a lot of those same things that have a lot of the same characteristics. It’s just about execution, I think execution makes you explosive.”
Ask Beck, and he’ll harp on the idea that Vanderbilt wouldn’t have become one of the SEC’s best offenses in 2025 if it was merely focused on hitting explosive plays. Beck and company believe they laid the foundation for a jump in 2025 in 2024 through a heavy emphasis on blocking on the perimeter and execution in the margins. Lea calls Beck one of the best playcallers in the country, but is also of the belief that Beck is limited if he can’t rely on consistent execution across the board. 
Lea calls this his deepest Vanderbilt team yet and appears to believe Beck will have what he needs to put together another successful offensive year. Vanderbilt will have a first-year starting quarterback in five-star freshman Jared Curtis or longtime backup Blaze Berlowitz, but will cater the playbook to what they’re best equipped to do. Lea says the playbook won’t change entirely either way, but will have different wrinkles depending on who the starter is. 
Vanderbilt’s staff hasn’t named a starter, though, and isn’t ruling out anything offensively these days. 
“This year we're still trying to find our niche,” Beck said Wednesday after Vanderbilt’s first practice of fall camp. “That's exactly what this is for, to find what our identity is and who the guys that we need to get the ball to and then make sure it fits it within our system.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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