'Steve's a trusted partner,' Clark Lea Details Dynamic With Vanderbilt Defensive Coordinator Steve Gregory

Clark Lea gave up his role as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator in order to lighten his seemingly never ending load as its head coach, but he still hasn’t given up the teaching aspect of his job. 

Vanderbilt defensive coordinator Steve Gregory may have taken over the defensive coordinator title, but on select days you can still see Clark Lea out around the 20-yard line at FirstBank Stadium shuffling his feet and instructing Vanderbilt’s defensive ends or taking a player into his office to instruct them on how to improve. 

“I think teaching is all about where I want to impart myself,” Lea said to a group of local media members on Monday morning at SEC Media Days. “That can be as simple as having a player in my office, that could be in a big room in front of the team, that could be with the defensive unit. Those opportunities will present, I think I’ve just got to find them and that’s my favorite part. I’m going to be looking to do that, for sure.” 

Lea got into coaching to teach. If he hadn’t loved teaching, he wouldn’t have gone out west early in his career to coach at UCLA for minimal pay. If he didn’t love teaching he wouldn’t have made it this far. 

He also knows that in his current role, he has to trust the teachers around him to do what he needs them to do. If he hadn’t already figured that out, he certainly did as he spread himself thin throughout the 2025 season and ultimately handed some of his defensive play calling responsibilities over to Gregory before officially giving him the defensive coordinator title. 

In that way, the change isn’t as drastic as it seems. 

“Truthfully I transitioned a lot of that as the season wore on last year,” Lea said. “It’s rhythmic at this point. One of the things that’s really important to me is that I don’t leave it. So, for me to be able to give him room to function in that role, to feel really confident about what he’s doing  and then also to feel like I’m involved day in, day out.” 

Lea backing off of Vanderbilt’s defensive staff entirely would be a near waste of a defensive mind that helped to revitalize Notre Dame’s program as its defensive coordinator. Too much on Lea’s plate may dilute the ability that he has to lead his program at the level he wants to. 

Someone like Lea won’t delegate if he doesn’t feel comfortable doing so, though. He’s proven that in the past after a 2-10 season. Now he appears to have some belief that he can pass off what he needs to Gregory and co-defensive coordinator Nick Lezynski, though. 

“Steve is such a trusted partner,” Lea said. “When you go beyond Steve you’ve got Nick Lezynski, who I’ve worked with for so long, and he’s got an elevated role now, too. Larry Black, Melvin Rice is back for another year. We brought Bob Shoop back on. Jovan Haye [is back]. The staff has a really nice chemistry to it. It’s about being able to stay involved, stay in touch.” 

Lea’s program heads into a transition season in terms of its defensive coordinator, but it returns 77% of its defensive production from its 7-6 campaign in 2025. Vanderbilt may have a few title changes on the defensive staff, but Lea wants to make it clear that he believes his defense isn’t losing the things that helped to make it successful in 2024.

If it does, perhaps there’s reasons beyond Vanderbilt’s change at defensive coordinator and schematic approach. 

“I know the system, I helped create it,” Lea said. “Now, how do I give it room to operate without me, but also have those points where I’m involved in helping move it forward?”