Clark Lea: Vanderbilt Football Tight End Cole Spence Expected To Miss Significant Time – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt tight end Cole Spence is questionable to play in Vanderbilt football's opener against Austin Peay, coach Clark Lea announced on Thursday.
"It's a situation where I don't want him to push," Lea said. "I've got hope for him short term, but it's not something that we're gonna take a lot of risks with."
Spence is Vanderbilt's projected starter at tight end and is in line to receive a significant increase in targets as a result of Eli Stowers' departure from the program. Spence finished the 2025 season with 15 receptions, two touchdowns and 233 yards, all of which were career highs. In 2025, Spence started 10 games and played in all 13. His departure will leave a significant hole in Vanderbilt's downfield passing game.
"When you talk about playing tight end, there are two facets to the game: the blocking and the receiving. In the past couple years, the team has needed me to lean more into my blocking ability because we had such a talented guy in Eli," Spence told Vandy on SI in the summer. "I'm really excited to be able to just step into that other part of the game, because keep in mind I was a receiver first, so that was my bread and butter.”
Spence is a fifth-year senior that has a season of eligibility remaining following the 2026 season.
The injury popped up early in the week and Vanderbilt has closely monitored Spence's situation since. The results of doctor's opinions led Vanderbilt to the conclusions that Lea laid out on Tuesday ahead of Vanderbilt's opener against Austin Peay.
Spence has been the victim of poor injury luck before. He was breaking out after his freshman season before a torn ACL held him out in 2023. Spence has also been the victim of a number of minor injuries since arriving at Vanderbilt in 2022.
Vanderbilt will turn to East Carolina transfer Jayvontay Conner, who it brought in to complement Spence, as its primary receiving tight end. Conner went for 23 receptions, 333 yards and three touchdowns in 2025 before entering the portal. The challenge for Conner has been finding consistency throughout the spring and summer, but tight ends coach Brendan Flaherty says he's among the most well conditioned players on Vanderbilt's roster.
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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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