3 things Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea wants to see in Commodores' first scrimmage
On Sunday, practice No. 10 for Vanderbilt football marks its first scrimmage of the season, when coach Clark Lea and the Commodores will hold their first full, live contact session.
The Commodores are well positioned to take major strides in 2023. They finished last season with a 5-7 record after winning just two games in 2021. This season, with various returners and a retooled roster, Lea has visions of a bowl game berth.
The scrimmage will help show just how close, or far, Vanderbilt is from being a proper bowl team. From quarterback to position coaches, it begins carving out a solid identity on Sunday.
Here are three things Lea is looking to see in the Commodores’ first test of the season:
Players finding roles
The youth and inexperience of the Vanderbilt roster come with encouraging promise.
“It’s a chance for young playmakers to step up," Lea said after Saturday’s practice. “Now they get a chance to have a day where they get out and show where they are.”
Coveted skill position groups, such as the receivers and quarterbacks, brimming with young talent, will have a good opportunity to evaluate their improvements with live contact.
“We’ll see who’s really a YAC (yards after catch) guy, who can break tackles, who’s catching the ball down the field,” receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. said.
Multiple preseason injuries have allowed younger players on the defense to rise in the depth chart as well.
“Because of the injuries, we’ve actually been able to see some real development of some of our younger secondary players. And that’s exciting to me.” Lea said. “To watch those guys in the moment, have to see and diagnose, have to bounce back from a bad play . . . to see where we’re at that way will be important.”
WILL SHEPPARD GROWTH: What Vanderbilt football expects to make Will Sheppard even better after emergence as a top SEC receiver
AJ SWANN WITH HELP FROM JOE BURROW: How Vanderbilt football's AJ Swann is addressing a throwing problem with Joe Burrow as an example
Quality tackling
Tackling has been a point of emphasis for Lea and his staff throughout the preseason. So far, the Commodores have had three practices with live contact portions, but practicing tackling is something that happens every day.
“How we’re closing time and space, how we’re leveraging the ball in pursuit, and then how we’re playing within structure,” Lea said. “You have to make leveraging the ball, and closing time and space a priority in the way you train.”
Poor pursuit and tackling of ball carriers last season were issues that Lea and his staff have been looking to remedy. On Saturday, Lea recalled several touchdowns that were conceded as a result of poor tackling technique, including in the Commodores' narrow loss to Missouri and their 11-point defeat to South Carolina.
“We’ve had these issues we have to keep doubling down on,” he said. “Tomorrow will be a good day to see where we advanced and where we need to put our attention.”
Coaching chemistry
Lea briefly remarked on the importance of building the chemistry of his coaching staff during the scrimmages. Although no major changes have taken place on the staff since last season, he sees the scrimmage as a chance to learn more about his group and how they operate together.
“We’ll learn a little bit about our operations on both sides of the ball, on all three phases,” Lea said. “But certainly on offense and defense … the chemistry of coaching staff, the communication lines, how we’re using in-between series to instruct (players). It’ll be a good day.”
VANDERBILT'S EDGE: How practice incident showed Vanderbilt football is playing with an edge
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 3 things Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea wants to see in first football scrimmage
