Why Joseph McVay Feels He Can Take Step Forward For Vanderbilt Football – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—A number of the lasting images, memories of Vanderbilt junior wide receiver Joseph McVay have to relate to his greatest moment in the sun. McVay was wearing No. 87, streaking down the middle at Faurot Field before scoring a 65-yard touchdown in Vanderbilt’s eventual loss to Missouri. 
The result was heartbreaking for that 2024 Vanderbilt team, but McVay finally demonstrated what he’d proven he could do on the practice field at Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center throughout all of fall camp. McVay had yet to demonstrate that he was a complete receiver capable of seeing the field consistently for that Vanderbilt team. He sure could hit the explosives, though. 
For all the explosives were a greater number of stretches in which McVay was subjected to the sidelines and a number of reps in which he wasn’t targeted. In the end, that was McVay’s only reception of the season and came on one of McVay’s seven snaps that season. 
Two years later, McVay stands in front of the cameras for the first time in his Vanderbilt career. Now, he’s wearing a No. 15 jersey and has some perspective on football and life that he wasn’t privy to as he caught the touchdown at Missouri. 
“It’s been kind of a bumpy road,” McVay said, “But I'm just trying to keep going up and up, I'm just trying to keep going and developing as a player and as a man.” 
Vanderbilt wide receivers coach Alex Bailey says that McVay was right in regard to his career assessment. Bailey’s evaluation of McVay is that he felt like Vanderbilt's staff should’ve given him a chance to prove what he could do early, but didn’t understand what it took to get an opportunity consistently. 
Since that season, McVay has played just 35 snaps, has two receptions and 21 yards. There’s a reason that he was out there speaking alongside two other Vanderbilt receivers and Vanderbilt receivers coach Alex Bailey, though. 
McVay wasn’t in front of the cameras just to share his prior experiences and how they’ve worn on him through his first two college seasons. This is about the future and what McVay can do for a relatively young receiver room as he enters his first season as an upperclassman. 
“He's taking it seriously now,” Bailey said. “He really, really wants to play and he's fighting for a role. I think he's kind of learning from the past two years. 
He doesn't want it to end up that way, and he's taking the right steps towards changing it.”
The difference between McVay these days as opposed to a year ago, Bailey says, is what he’s committed to doing on his own when Vanderbilt’s coaches aren’t telling him to do it. Bailey says McVay has sat in quarterback meetings, going in to the facility to get extra work in when Vanderbilt’s coaches are out recruiting and has sat in on individual meetings with players that are new to the program in order to gain an understanding of Vanderbilt’s offense. 
That showed Bailey that McVay is more serious about his pursuit of getting on the field. Not a whole lot has dramatically changed physically for McVay since his freshman season, but he appears to believe he’s unlocking something because of the mental strides he’s made. 
“One of my biggest setbacks of last year is just not knowing everything,” McVay said. “I think I got better and mentally more in the game. 
I think I need to get better at reading coverages.” 
If McVay truly has taken a step forward in the mental aspects of his game, he’s got a chance to find his way on the field consistently for the first time since joining Vanderbilt as a three-star recruit prior to the 2024 season. Vanderbilt has lost a number of its go-to guys and is looking for someone to go out and take a chunk of snaps. 
It appears as if McVay is a natural candidate. Time for him to do it, though.
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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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