Lea Named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year – Vanderbilt Commodores

He is the first Commodore head coach to receive the award
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Football Clark Lea has been named the 2025 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year it was announced by the Football Writers Association of America and the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Tuesday. One week after becoming the first Commodore to be voted the SEC Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons, he is the first-ever leader of the program to claim a National Coach of the Year award.
After being chosen among a group that included 11 other finalists, Lea will receive the iconic bust of the late Robinson—a College Football Hall of Fame coach at Grambling for 55 years—at a reception in Miami on Jan. 17, 2026.
In guiding Vandy to back-to-back postseason bowl appearances, Lea has led the Dores to school records with 10 overall victories and six Southeastern Conference wins. Entering their match-up with Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl, which kicks off on ESPN at 11 a.m. CT on Dec. 31, Vanderbilt is 10-2 including a 6-2 mark in conference play and is currently among the top 15 in both the Associated Press and AFCA coaches’ polls.
In fact, the Commodores have been included in the AP top 25 for a school-record 13 weeks this season after entering the rankings following a 31-7 road win over then No. 11/10 South Carolina on Sept. 13. The Gamecocks were one of four ranked opponents Vandy defeated this fall—a group that also includes Tennessee, LSU and Missouri—which equaled the number of top 25 victories the program had recorded in the previous 16 seasons combined.
Under his direction, the Dores have featured one of the most explosive offenses in the country with averages of 39.4 points and 468.5 yards per game while defensively Vandy has surrendered just over 100 rushing yards per contest. Not only has he helped the program feature multiple All-Americans for the first time since the 1996 campaign, with his guidance Eli Stowers received the William V. Campbell Trophy® presented to the premier scholar-athlete in college football while Diego Pavia finished second in the voting for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Lea was named the American Football Coaches Association Region 2 Coach of the Year in November, and he is also a current finalist for the George Munger National Coach of the Year award.
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