The 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

during the 2008–09 college football season. The team's head coach was

Bobby Johnson Robert Alan Johnson (born February 8, 1951) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Vanderbilt University, a position he held from the 2002 season until his retirement in 2010. In ...

, who served his seventh season in the position. The Commodores played their six home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. This was Vanderbilt's first 5–0 start since

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

and first bowl appearance since

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, ending a streak of 25 straight losing seasons.

Schedule

Season summary

Following a 4–0 start to the season, the Vanderbilt Commodores were ranked for the first time on the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

since 1984. Following the victory over Auburn, the Commodores were 5–0 for the first time since 1943. After the good start, the Commodores would lose their next four games before a 31-24 victory over Kentucky that declared them bowl eligible for the first time since 1982. Vandy would then lose their final two games of the regular season. They ended the season by going to the Music City Bowl where they defeated Boston College by a score of 16-14, ending a 53-year bowl victory drought.

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

South Carolina

Rice

Ole Miss

Auburn

This game was notably broadcast on ESPN's national television program College GameDay.

Mississippi State

Georgia

Duke

Florida

Kentucky

Tennessee

Wake Forest

Boston College

Coaching staff

- Head Coach *

Ted Cain Ted Cain (born c. 1952) is a former American football coach who coached in the college football ranks for over 30 years. He is the former offensive coordinator, former special teams coordinator, and former tight-ends coach at Vanderbilt Commodor ...

- Offensive Coordinator and Tight Ends Coach *

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, an ...

- Defensive Coordinator *

Robbie Caldwell Robbie Caldwell (born January 26, 1954) is a retired American football coach, and previously served as the offensive line coach for Clemson University. Caldwell was formerly the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores football team. He has also ...

- Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach *Rick Logo - Defensive Line Coach *Warren Belin - Linebackers Coach and Recruiting Coordinator *

Jamie Bryant Jamie Bryant (born October 1, 1969) is an American football coach. He was the Special Team Coordinator at Colorado State University. He previously served the Defensive Coordinator at Delaware State University and as defensive coordinator for t ...

- Defensive Backs Coach and Special Teams Coordinator *Charlie Fisher - Co-Passing Game Coordinator & Wide Receivers *Jacob DeLucia - Co-Passing Game Coordinator & Quarterbacks * Desmond Kitchings- Running Backs Coach *Michael Hazel - Assistant Director of Football Operations *Joey Orck - Offensive Quality Control *Andy Frank - Defensive Quality Control *Norval McKenzie - Offensive Graduate Assistant *Mark Moehring - Defensive Graduate Assistant *Tom Bossung - Head Athletic Trainer *Brian Reese - Associate Director of Student Athletics *John Sisk - Director of Speed, Strength and Conditioning *Luke Wyatt - Head Equipment Manager *Gary Veach - Assistant Equipment Manager

References

{{Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Commodores football seasons Music City Bowl champion seasons

Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...