Steve Gregory Brings NFL Experience, But Simple Goals to Vanderbilt Football

Nashville—Steve Gregory heard many a Bill Belichick presser in his two years as a New England Patriot. 

The Vanderbilt defensive coordinator–who famously recovered New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez’ butt fumble–wore the green dot on Belichick’s defenses and appeared to learn enough while doing so to give everyone in the room some crap as he was asked about the media training he got from his former head coach in New England. 

“No comment,” Gregory joked before going into a brief serious answer. “It’s just putting the team first, talking about the team, don’t talk about things you can’t control. He’s given me some lessons across the years.” 

Gregory knows that he’s got to be himself as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator before he starts channeling Belichick, though. The first-year Vanderbilt coordinator–who took the duties Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea handed off this offseason in an effort to decrease the load on his plate–is still learning who exactly he is in his current role. 

It appears as if a good place for Gregory to start is by reflecting on what worked for him in an eight-year NFL career. Perhaps the best piece on Gregory’s rèsumè in that way is his experience wearing the green dot–which indicates a leadership role–for the Patriots. 

“I just always prided myself in being a good communicator and somebody that can align the defense,” Gregory said. “I think taking that to coaching allows me to communicate some things well.” 

Gregory hopes that Vanderbilt’s defense is significantly improved in 2024. But he knows that if it’s going to happen, it has to be as a result of Vanderbilt’s abundance of returning production looking like returners, defensive line depth stepping forward and its cornerbacks improving enough to consistently play man coverage. 

The Vanderbilt defensive coordinator called a few games instead of Lea at the end of last season, but upon self-scouting he concluded that there was some good, bad and ugly in his calls. He found that his calls were only effective if his players performed, though. 

“I think I would have done something different, hindsight is 20/20,” Gregory said. “You’ve just got to trust what you're doing in a moment. And at the end of the day, to be honest with you, it's a player's game. They’ve got to go out and execute. They can make a bad call look really good. They can also make a good call look really bad, so we have trust in and play a certain style of football and go execute the calls that are given. I'll do my best to put them in the most perfect situation that I can and we just live with it.” 

The word is that results Gregory produced as Vanderbilt’s primary defensive playcaller–which he said explicitly will be the case this season–were varied and that he may be a more aggressive playcaller than Lea was last season. 

Gregory disputed the idea that he’s more of a “risk taker” than Lea was as defensive coordinator, but says he’s willing to be aggressive in the right circumstances and that he may be aided by what he considers to be the improved athleticism that he has to work with in the secondary. If Gregory is going to be aggressive in his first full season at coordinator he’s got to have the horses to do it. 

As a result, he’s keyed in on player development and has worked to pass down what he learned as an NFL vet. It appears as if what he’s done has worked. 

“He not only sees it as a player, but he sees it as a defensive player,” Vanderbilt linebacker Bryan Longwell said. “He really comes at it from every point of view of like trying to understand and really understand how we learn and the best way that he can teach it and coach it so that everybody can understand, everybody can get it down.” 

The transition hasn’t been seamless for Gregory, but his job is easier as a result of Lea sitting in on most defensive meetings alongside Gregory and collaborating with him consistently.

Lea says that Gregory is a “trusted partner” and that he feels “very comfortable" with where Vanderbilt’s defense is at this point. Lea essentially had his hand forced by the volume of work he was tasked with completing at his highest capacity last season, but it appears as if Gregory has shown him enough to earn some freedom in his role. 

“I’ve been pleased with how easy it’s been for me to be in and out of that room and to help guide the coaches day in and day out,” Lea said. “I think the players have responded really well to him. I think he has a knack for not making it about him. It’s really helping them find success.” 

The best teachers can’t always translate into productive teachers, but after a few years out of the spotlight Gregory is talking to the media and vocalizing his vision that appears to be more plausible because of his previous experience as a longtime NFL player. 

You don’t have to play in the NFL to understand what he wants you to see from his defense, though. 

“I think think the biggest thing is to just see a group of guys playing with spirit, flying around, Gregory said, “Playing with good structure, communication, and a bunch of guys having fun.”