Why This Vanderbilt Football Defender Has Stuck With the Program – Sports Illustrated

In this story:
NASHVILLE – Coming off a 2-10 season in 2023, Vanderbilt football was not in the place it wanted to be. The Commodores finished the season on a 10-game losing streak and was nowhere near relevancy in the sport. 
For players like Vanderbilt safety Jalen Gilbert – who was a freshman at the time – he would have been fully justified to seek out other opportunities to play college football somewhere else. But he did not. Instead, he stuck around.
Gilbert’s reason from the beginning for why he chose Vanderbilt was more than just an opportunity to play on a college football team.
“I came to Vanderbilt for a reason. Playing in the SEC, the best conference I believe and to get a good education. And I abide by that and that’s where my loyalty is. And it’s coach Lea [Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea] as well. Just how he brought this from the up,” Gilbert said as to why he has stayed at Vanderbilt.
Gilbert has been a guy that has had to wait his turn to see significant playing time. Of course, it has not been easy for him to wait for that, but he has stayed the course and been patient with himself and with the coaching staff.
Gilbert has played in all 13 games in each of the past two seasons. In 2025, he finished with three tackles, two pass breakups and two passes defended. At the end of the day, Gilbert has continued to trust the process, knowing that his journey is unique to him.
But another factor that went into Gilbert’s decision to stick with the program was the change in attitude of the program. When Gilbert was experiencing the valleys of his career in his first season, the Vanderbilt program did not have an identity or a sense of family behind closed doors. As Gilbert was being honest as he thought back to the 2023 season, he admits that the so-called “brotherhood” that team had was not totally genuine.
But now? There is a different vibe in the program. A roster and a program where it is noticeable to see it's full of players that care about winning and about the success of the program.
“We said it was a brotherhood at 2-10, but that was fake. Our motto is ‘Anything but fake.’ Now, definitely we feel like a brotherhood and that’s how we’re playing on the field, too,” Gilbert said after Vanderbilt's sixth practice of fall camp. “These past two years, you’ve seen us come together. We’re not just playing just to play, we’re playing for one another just because we are closer and we know why we’re playing for our brother and the man next to us.”
The culture building that Gilbert took part in did not happen overnight. There was no specific moment, practice or meeting that the team decided to find a spark that made everything click. Instead, it was built through the offseason.
When the guys return to campus in the early parts of the summer, that is where the most important bonding takes place. Away from each one’s personal friends and families and back in Nashville, the team has almost no other choice but to spend almost every day with each other.
From getting extra workouts in during the weekends in the summer to going out to eat with guys from multiple different position rooms, people that were once strangers become the ones who are closest.
“That’s really where the days are made. Just being together and understanding your brother and getting to know him. That’s truly your family away from your family,” Gilbert said.
When Gilbert started his career at Vanderbilt, it was a program that was coach-led to the point where Gilbert felt like the coaching staff had to “baby” the players and nudge them along the way. That is far from the case now as Gilbert begins his fourth season in Nashville. The program is player-led and Gilbert is one of the ones that helped build that overtime. Not only that, but it has produced results on the field. Trusting the process, especially in the worst of times, is difficult. But eventually, the ones that see it through are rewarded.
“That’s how winning works. Once the players lead and once you don’t need the coaches to baby you and hold your hand, that’s really where games are won,” Gilbert said.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.
Loading recommendations… Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
© 2026 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.

source