Each of Vanderbilt football's first three seasons under Clark Lea ended with a loss to Tennessee that wasn't particularly close. The 2024 season won't end that way, even as the Commodores once again got boatraced by their rival yet again.

Clark Lea wants to continue building things at Vanderbilt to ensure this one successful season isn't the rarity.

When Clark Lea's oldest son got sick about five years ago and was in the hospital for eight days, Brian Kelly — at the time vacationing overseas — called to check in on Lea's family. Today, Lea remembers that gesture when he thinks back on the mentorship Kelly, now the head coach at LSU, gave him.