Vanderbilt’s Lynch out as OC; Lea to run defense

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

  • Elder WriterNov 29, 2023, 09:18 PM ET Close College football press reporter.
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.Vanderbilt will have brand-new

playcallers on both sides of the ball following a 2-10 season in which the group went winless in SEC play.Offensive coordinator Joey Lynch is out, and head coach

Clark Lea will take over protective playcalls in 2024. Nick Howell, who had been the Commodores ‘defensive coordinator, will serve as co-defensive backs coach along with Jamaal Richardson, a protective quality assurance coach who has actually been promoted. Dan Jackson, the team’s defensive backs coach the previous two seasons, will move to an off-field role.Lea will right away start a nationwide search for a brand-new offending coordinator.Editor’s Picks Vanderbilt was up to 126th nationally in points allowed this season and enabled 39.6 points per game in conference play, nearly seven points even worse than any other group.”We had a season where our results and performance disappointed our expectations,”Lea said in a statement on Wednesday. “When that holds true, modification

is needed. My background as a defensive organizer will allow me to finest serve our team by taking on that obligation.”Lynch had been on Vanderbilt’s personnel since 2021 and supervise an offense that ranks 100th nationally in points per game and 112th in lawns per game. Just Mississippi State scored less points than the Commodores in league play this season.Athletic director Candice Floor Lee informed The Tennessean previously this month that Lea has her “complete assistance,” however that changes were needed and an examination will continue in locations to be updated. In

July, Vanderbilt revealed it had extended Lea’s agreement, which ESPN reported would be through the 2029 season.Lea, a Nashville native and previous Vanderbilt fullback, is 9-27 in three years as the team’s coach.