Notre Dame and Brian Kelly have an important staff vacancy to fill.
Clark Lea, the Fighting Irish’s defensive coordinator, is leaving his position to be the head coach at Vanderbilt, his alma mater. Vanderbilt announced the move Monday night in a university release.
Lea, 38, has spent the last three seasons overseeing Notre Dame’s defense and will remain in the role for the rest of the season while he hires a staff and recruits for his new job. He’s replacing Derek Mason, who Vanderbilt fired in November after posting a 27-55 record in six-plus seasons and an 0-8 start to 2020. Lea is a Nashville area native who walked on to play fullback for the Commodores from 2002-04. He also holds a master’s degree from the school.
“I’m excited to come back to Vanderbilt to lead a program, at an institution and in a city, that gave me so much and shaped who I am today,” Lea said in a statement. “Vanderbilt is a special place with a competitive drive that I believe can translate into winning."
Notre Dame hired Lea as its linebackers coach following the 2016 season. He came from the same position at Wake Forest and tagged along with then-Demon Deacons defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who Brian Kelly hired to fill the same job at Notre Dame. When Elko left for Texas A&M a year later, Kelly elevated Lea to defensive coordinator.
In each year under Lea, the Irish have allowed fewer than 20 points per game and finished in the national top 30 in yards allowed per play. His defense has helped produce a pair of undefeated regular seasons, first in 2018 and now in 2020. This season’s defense ranks 14th in yards per game (314.5), 26th in yards per play (5.06) and 12th in scoring (17.1 points per game).
The 2020 unit’s specialty, though, is creating disruption. Notre Dame ranks fourth nationally in non-garbage time havoc rate, at 24.1 percent. (Havoc rate is the percentage of plays where a defense registers a tackle for loss, sack, pass breakup, interception or forced fumble). It has registered a havoc rate above 20 percent in every game this year.
At Vanderbilt, Lea will take over a program that has not had a winning season since James Franklin’s final year in 2013. Mason led the program to a pair of bowl games, losing both, and never finished .500 or better in the SEC. Mason was reportedly making about $3.5 million this season.
Lea has worked at several private and academically oriented schools in the past, further establishing a strong on-paper fit at Vanderbilt. His coaching career began in 2006 as a UCLA graduate assistant, and he spent two years as the Bruins linebackers coach. He was the linebackers coach at Syracuse from 2013-15 before going to Wake Forest.
Lea had been mentioned as a candidate for openings in prior years. In December 2019, Lea was a finalist to become Boston College’s head coach, but the Eagles hired then-Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to fill it.
The 10-0, No. 2-ranked Irish play No. 3 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game Saturday. It’d be a surprise if they were not included in the College Football Playoff, which begins Jan. 1 and ends with the national title game on Jan. 11. Vanderbilt confirmed in its announcement Lea will be staying with Notre Dame for its postseason run, a decision Kelly expected him to make.
“Clark’s a professional,” Kelly said Sunday. “He’s in it for the long haul, so it’s not going to disrupt what he does in his preparation for the championship game and hopefully moving forward. That’s a given. You’re dealing with professionals who recognize when they make a commitment here, they’re committing to seeing it through. I’m not concerned about it. I know our players aren’t as well. I don’t think that’s going to be a distraction at all.”
FootballScoop previously reported Lea first interviewed for the job in the days following Notre Dame’s regular-season finale, a Dec. 5 win over Syracuse.
Lea is the sixth Notre Dame assistant under Kelly who left to become a Division I head coach: 2015-18 running backs coach Autry Denson (Charleston Southern), 2015-16 offensive coordinator Mike Sanford (Western Kentucky), 2010-13 defensive coordinator Bob Diaco (UConn), 2010-13 recruiting coordinator and offensive coordinator Chuck Martin (Miami Ohio) and 2010-11 offensive coordinator Charley Molnar (Massachusetts).
Lea will be introduced at a press conference next week.
This story has been updated.
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