Sugar Bowl presents FWAA's Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award to Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea – Crescent City Sports

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MIAMI (January 27, 2026) – Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea was officially presented with the 2025 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award by representatives of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Robinson family, and the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) at an event at the JW Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami on January 17.
Lea led Vanderbilt to the most wins in program history for both a single season and conference play. The Commodores were a part of the national discussion throughout the season as they defeated four then-Top 25 opponents along the way, equaling the most ranked wins by the program from its previous 16 seasons combined.
“After 122 years of never winning more than nine games in a season, they did it,” said Dottie Reese, the President of the Sugar Bowl Committee. “Double figure wins while playing in the SEC! Well done.”
At the event, Lee was presented with the iconic bust of the late Robinson, a College Football Hall of Fame coach at Grambling State University for 55 years and winner of 408 career games.
Lea is the first Vanderbilt coach to win the Eddie Robinson Award and was the school’s first finalist in the award’s history. He was chosen from among 11 other finalists in Bob Chesney of James Madison, last season’s winner in Curt Cignetti of Indiana, Ryan Day of Ohio State, Mike Elko of Texas A&M, Tony Elliott of Virginia, Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame, Jerry Mack of Kennesaw State, Joey McGuire of Texas Tech, Jim Mora of Connecticut, Kirby Smart of Georgia and Jon Sumrall of Tulane.
Lea has led Vanderbilt to a 10-3 overall mark and 6-2 SEC record. The Commodores were ranked in the Associated Press’ poll a school-record 14 weeks in 2025, including a final ranking of No. 15. The SEC’s Coach of the Year for a second consecutive season coached two players to first-team All-America honors by assorted organizations, including the Heisman Trophy runner-up in quarterback Diego Pavia. Tight end Eli Stowers was named first-team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and also earned the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy presented at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards dinner for academic excellence.
“Clark Lea is a comprehensive football coach. He leads with purpose – and the turn-around at Vanderbilt is one of the best college football stories in recent memory,” said Bill Bender of The Sporting News, the FWAA’s 2025 president. “He is passionate on the field and insightful with the media off it. Lea’s accomplishments at his alma mater make him an ideal recipient of this year’s Eddie Robinson Award.”
“The Robinson family congratulates Coach Lea of Vanderbilt on becoming the 2025 ERCOY. Coach Lea is a Vanderbilt Commodore through and through, and he’s proven that even more as the head coach, so his winning this award is very fitting and well deserved,” said Eddie Robinson III, Coach Robinson’s grandson.
Lea and Vanderbilt first turned heads in its Sept. 13 SEC opener, dominating then-No. 11 South Carolina 31-7 in a sold-out Williams-Brice Stadium. It was the Commodores’ first win in a conference opener since 2011, its first road win against an AP-ranked opponent since 2007 and snapped a 16-game losing skid against South Carolina with its largest margin of victory in series history. At that point Lea had led his team to three straight wins of 20 points or more to open the season, the first time the program has accomplished that feat since 1930.
Vanderbilt contended for the SEC crown throughout the season, eventually settling in at 6-2 behind a four-way tie for first at 7-1. Lea and the Commodores capped the regular season with another big road win over a ranked opponent, winning at No. 18 Tennessee 45-24, beating their in-state rival for the first time since 2018 and taking their first win at Neyland Stadium since 2017. It was Vanderbilt’s first win over Tennessee as a ranked team since 1948 as it rolled up a season-high 314 rushing yards, the most by the Vandy offense since 2022, and the most against an SEC school since at least 1996.
Working in tandem through Lea’s leadership this season was the rise of Pavia, the Vanderbilt quarterback and the emotional team leader. Pavia was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year in the SEC, a conference stacked with prolific quarterbacks. He completed 267-of-378 passes for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns and also ran for 862 yards and 10 scores this fall. Pavia led the SEC in six individual statistical categories including total offense (338.54 yards per game), total QBR (82.9), touchdown passes (29), completion percentage (70.63%), yards per pass attempt (9.4) and points responsible for (236).
Pavia’s 3,539 passing yards, 4,401 yards of total offense, and his 29 touchdown passes are Vanderbilt single-season records, while his 862 rushing yards were second-most among all Power 4 quarterbacks.
Stowers, like Pavia a graduate student and his favorite target, earned multiple national accolades and awards. The All-SEC tight end had 62 receptions for 769 yards and four touchdowns this fall as the team leader in both categories. The national leader in total yards by a tight end paced the team in receptions in six games and receiving yards four times this season.
The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State’s Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. Beginning in 1997, the FWAA Coach of the Year Award has been named in honor of the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.
Robinson, who passed away in 2007, won 70.7 percent of his games during his illustrious career. Robinson’s teams won or tied for 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships after joining the league in 1959. His Tigers teams won nine Black College Football Championships during his career, all of it at Grambling.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which served as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, saw Ole Miss defeat SEC rival Georgia in a sold-out Superdome on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
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