Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea not rushing race to find next starting QB – Chattanooga Times Free Press

NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt is wrapping up spring football practices this week, but it’s only the first step in coach Clark Lea’s process of picking a new starting quarterback to replace Diego Pavia.
Lea scored a recruiting coup last November, when five-star quarterback Jared Curtis of Nashville Christian School flipped his commitment from perennial powerhouse Georgia to stay home and play for Vanderbilt, a fellow Southeastern Conference program.
Yet the Commodores also have senior Blaze Berlowitz, junior Whit Muschamp and sophomore Jack Elliott, and Lea said they’ve all had their moments this spring heading into Saturday’s Black and Gold Game at FirstBank Stadium.
“This is going to be a process of elimination,” said Lea, who is preparing for his sixth season as head coach at his alma mater and is coming off a groundbreaking year for the program after the Commodores went 10-3 overall and 6-2 in SEC play in 2025.
“I’ve got a true freshman that is learning how to play in college,” Lea said of Curtis. “We all see the tools and the skills, and we believe in that. And I need to give him as much time as possible to learn the system and to really be able to compete. And we’re going to do that.”
Taking as much time as possible will be prudent with the lack of college experience among this group.
Berlowitz has played the most in Vanderbilt’s offense. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder appeared in six games last season and was 9-of-17 passing for 131 yards and a touchdown while running 11 times for 81 yards and a score.
He started his college career at New Mexico State in 2023, working with offensive coordinator Tim Beck in 2023 before joining the exodus to Vanderbilt led by coach Jerry Kill, Beck, Pavia and tight end Eli Stowers for the 2024 season.
“Blaze Berlowitz has shown up in live segments and has proven he can move the offense and proven he can make plays and strengthen parts of the other 10 on the field,” Lea said. “He’s got experience in the system. He’s looked really good.”
Berlowitz also got to learn the past three seasons from Pavia, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist last fall.
“Learning from him was huge for me,” Berlowitz said earlier this month.
Lea said he has lot of trust in Elliott (6-0, 205), calling him a consistently hard worker, while Muschamp (6-1, 190) — who prepped at Chattanooga’s Baylor School — was slowed by a bout with the flu this spring.
Then there’s Curtis, the early enrollee who looks the part of an SEC quarterback at 6-3 and 230 pounds. He’s also the highest-rated player ever at Vanderbilt after leading Nashville Christian to the TSSAA Division II-A state title last December.
The Commodores have plenty of time ahead with summer workouts and preseason camp before the Sept. 5 opener against Austin Peay, a Football Championship Subdivision program from nearby Clarksville. By then, Lea would like someone to separate clearly as the starter to help the Commodores, who were ranked 15th in the final AP Top 25 poll last season, build chemistry on offense.
“Let’s embrace that as the reality, and let’s give it the time needs to be as competitive as it can be,” Lea said. “Ultimately, the mission is winning. And whoever’s taking those snaps early in the season will have to continue to earn it.”
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