Clark Lea (born November 11, 1981) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is currently the head football coach at Vanderbilt. He previously served as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

from 2018 to 2020. Lea began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA) in 2006 and went on to serve as an assistant coach at

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

Playing career

Lea started his college career playing baseball. He helped lead Birmingham Southern to the 2001 NAIA championship his freshman year. Lea then transferred to Belmont and played one year of baseball (5G, 2-for-5, K). Lea remained in Nashville and finished his college career at Vanderbilt, playing fullback his last two years.

Coaching career

UCLA

In 2006, Lea began his coaching career at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

as a graduate assistant under head coach

Karl Dorrell Karl James Dorrell (born December 18, 1963) is an American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Colorado. Dorrell most notably served as the head football coach of the University of California, Los Angeles (UC ...

South Dakota State

In 2007, Lea joined

as their linebackers coach under head coach

John Stiegelmeier John Stiegelmeier (born February 7, 1957) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at South Dakota State University, a position he has held since 1997. Stiegelmeier was hired as the 20th head coach of the South Dako ...

. In 2008, Lea was given an additional role as recruiting coordinator.

UCLA (second stint)

In 2009, Lea returned to UCLA as a graduate assistant under head coach

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

. In 2010, he was promoted to linebackers coach. Following Neuheisel's firing on November 28, 2011, Lea was not retained by UCLA for the 2012 season.

Bowling Green

In 2012, Lea was hired as the linebackers coach at

under defensive coordinator

Mike Elko Michael Elko (born July 28, 1977) is an American college football coach who is currently the head coach at Duke University. He was previously the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M from 2018 until his hiring by Duke on December 10, 2021. Early ...

and head coach

Dave Clawson David Paul Clawson (born August 16, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the head football coach at Wake Forest University, where he was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year. Clawson previously served a ...

Syracuse

In 2013, Lea joined

as their linebackers coach under head coach

Scott Shafer Scott Shafer (born January 6, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the defensive coordinator for the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. He previously served as the head coach at Syracuse University u ...

Wake Forest

In 2016, Lea was hired as the linebackers coach at

, reuniting with defensive coordinator

and head coach

Notre Dame

In 2017, Lea followed defensive coordinator Mike Elko to the

to serve as their linebackers coach under head coach Brian Kelly. In January 2018, Lea was promoted to

, replacing Mike Elko, who departed to serve in the same role at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Vanderbilt

On December 14, 2020, Lea was named the 29th head football coach at

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 ...

, replacing

Derek Mason Derek Mason (born September 29, 1969) is an American college football coach. He currently is the defensive coordinator for Oklahoma State University. Mason served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University from 2014 until midway through ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Vanderbilt profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea, Clark 1981 births Living people American football fullbacks Belmont Bruins baseball players Birmingham–Southern Panthers baseball players Bowling Green Falcons football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches South Dakota State Jackrabbits football coaches Syracuse Orange football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football players Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee