What is the Solution to Vanderbilt Football’s Penalty Problems? Clark Lea Has an Idea – Sports Illustrated

NASHVILLE — If there is one thing that is certain to get a long response out of Vanderbilt football head coach Clark Lea, it is the subject of penalties. And with his team this season, there is plenty of reason to use time during his press conferences to talk about them.
Vanderbilt is the most penalized team in the SEC. It has been one of, if not, the biggest story of its season since the 2026 campaign began. The Commodores are committing 9.33 penalties per game this season. Yes, that is worst in the SEC but it is also 6th-worst in all of college football.
Penalties were again a big issue for the Commodores in their 52-17 loss to Ole Miss Saturday. They committed 11 penalties for 92 yards. Two of the penalties were personal fouls that occurred after a play was over. One of those put Vanderbilt in a goal-to-go situation from the 17-yard line while the other gave Ole Miss a free first down right before settling for a field goal.
Lea called those penalties “unacceptable” after the game Saturday and he reaffirmed that sentiment in his weekly Tuesday press conference, calling those kinds of penalties as selfish actions that undermine the team’s goal of winning.
It does beg the question of how does the team make sure that does not happen again. Lea offered up an answer.
“Confrontation is an important part of response,” Lea said as his solution to players getting personal foul penalties. “The rejection, the absolute and total rejection not of the person, but of the behavior. We’ve been good this way. That’s why those things haven’t been our achilles heel. We’ve been a disciplined team. And for whatever reason right now, we’re operating beyond the boundaries of the program in that sense. And we did it twice on Saturday for a total of eight points.”
Vanderbilt’s penalty issues are more than just a couple disciplinary penalties that occurred in one game. The Commodores have had an issue with operational penalties, especially on the offensive end.
Whether it be holdings or false starts or other penalties, Vanderbilt has shot itself in the foot constantly. Lea wants to eliminate the blame game when it comes to how to deal with the in-game penalties. He wants his team to accept the blame as one and move forward in solving the issue as one unit.
Lea acknowledged that also takes some confrontation with holding players accountable and responsible in practice. And because of the penalty issues the offense has had this season, Lea is beginning to try something else out to fix the issue.
“We instituted a rule today where it’s for every yard of operational penalty, we have up downs for the offense after practice. And if this were defensive where we’re jumping offsides and stuff like that, we’d do the same thing. We’ve been more disciplined on that side of the ball,” Lea said.
Lea is not looking for his team to play perfect and to do every little thing perfectly. He sees beauty in responding when the season turns in a direction the team does not want it to. That is the current situation Vanderbilt is in. The Commodores did not think they would be in their current position back when fall camp concluded.
But now it has gotten to a point where Lea is going to do whatever it takes to make sure every player that is on the field is fully bought into the mission. And if a player is not, it seems like he does not have a problem making changes to the lineup.
Linebacker Nick Rinaldi and Lea agree that what is going on right now between the losing streak and the penalties is not a result of being less talented, but rather a result of lacking discipline. That is not something Lea has joy in saying publicly, but he does admit it is an honest thing to say.
“I would say confrontation is the most important word. If there’s no buy-in to this, the urgency we need to address this, then we ultimately have to reimagine the people that are on the field taking the snaps,” Lea said. “There has to be total buy-in from the staff and players. And if there’s not, then we’re going to have to get the people out there that are going to buy into and align.”
Vanderbilt knows it has to get back to its identity. That includes committing far fewer penalties and playing in a way it can be proud of. It has not been doing that. Lea believes deep down his team has it in it. It is just a matter if that version of his team will show up.
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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.
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