Nm

Kind of a quiet day, I'd lean defense won but wasn't a ton of action or a huge difference in my eyes.

Offense:
-Didn't love what I saw from the quarterbacks. Diego Pavia made a nice TD throw to Brycen Coleman and Drew Dickey was a bigger running threat today than he had been previously but just not a ton of great throws today or offenses moving. Johnson missed a few throws that I thought he made on other days. Berlowitz seems to be the fourth out of the four QBs if I had to guess. I still think the competition is up in the air, they're better evaluators than I am but I'm not sure I've seen a huge difference between any of the QBs. Pavia was fine early but still worried about his deep ball.

-Sedrick Alexander seems to be getting more involved after missing some time early. He made the play of the day hurdling Taco Wright for a touchdown. Not a whole lot from anyone else, I'd probably put Gillespie as the third back currently. Surprising guy who made some plays was Dominic Rezac, who had three catches out of the backfield in a row at one point. Their backs will probably have to be good receiving backs to really get their fingerprints on the game fully. I also think they're gonna want more blocking out of them than the previous staff did, just in a different way.

-Quincy Skinner made a play, otherwise super quiet day out of the receivers.

-Eli Stowers made an exceptional catch and a few other plays, too. Good day for him. Cole Spence continues to be Vanderbilt's best offensive player. Tight ends will continue to be a focal point and may be the key for the offense. Kameran Johnson had a really good period or two, have always been high on him. Brycen Coleman made a TD catch today, otherwise not much from the freshmen.

-The positive in my mind for the offense was that it felt like they were starting to open more running lanes than they had previously. Still not super explosive or anything but there was some semblance of a productive running game.

-Dariyan Wiley was doing work on the side again, as were Boski Barrett, Witt Edwards and Gabe Fisher.

-Misael Sandoval has a chance to be really, really good. Could see him starting. He won some reps definitively. Has the size, the strength and is mobile. Gunnar Hansen also had some really good reps, as did Chase Mitchell.

Offensive Standouts:
TE Eli Stowers
OT Misael Sandoval
RB Sedrick Alexander

Defense:

-Best news of the day for Vanderbilt was that CJ Taylor and Dontae Carter returned to the live periods. Christian James, Alvin Williamson and Miles Capers were doing some work off to the side.

-Khordae Sydnor will be good, not sure how good. He makes his presence felt from time to time. Like Jailen Ruth. Ted Gregorie is making more plays over the last day or two than he had been previously. Wondering where Zailyn Wood and Darren Agu fit into all of this.

-I was mostly focused on the offense but I did notice some good pass rush from time to time.

-Randon Fontenette may be my defensive MVP throughout camp. Not even five minutes into it he intercepted Nate Johnson and stared someone down after.

-Saw an example of Clark Lea teaching today as he worked individually on the side with De'Rickey Wright and Marlen Sewell. Both seemed receptive to what he was teaching. Pulled them aside during a non-intensive period.

Defensive Standouts:
STAR Randon Fontenette
DL Khordae Sydnor
EDGE Jailen Ruth

Special Teams:

-They're high on Jesse Mirco and how he does some subtle things differently than most American punters.

-Haven't been watching super closely but I like Brock Taylor's leg strength a lot. Julian Ashby has been good.

-I wonder if they put some feature guys on special teams to try to get a little edge.

I saw where Clemson refused a "request" from ESPN and the ACC to move their game with South Carolina from the Saturday following Thanksgiving to Friday night. There is not a whole lot I really like about Dabo and Clemson but I do like this. I would like to see other schools begin to balk at changing games when it makes it more difficult for players and especially fans who want to attend the game in person. For example, it makes no sense for Vanderbilt-Va. Tech to be playing at 11:00 AM in August. I hope Vanderbilt has plans to set up a good number of temporary stands to sell water so fans can quickly and easily purchase water. (Wouldn't it be nice to sell bottles at a discounted price that day?)

Offense:
-Not an awesome day for the quarterbacks or the offense as a whole. I think Pavia will be a gamer but I'm worried about his deep ball, he was intercepted by underthrowing one. He made some really nice throws in the short to intermediate game. Johnson had a couple nice ones but missed some throws and was intercepted. First chance I got to see Johnson use his legs. Dickey hasn't seemed to take care of the ball as well as I'd thought. He's a fine game manager if he can make good decisions. Berlowitz made some throws but had an egregious pick.

-Newberry looks better live than he had without pads. Cardenas could be a factor but he hasn't jumped off the page yet. May still slot Gillespie ahead of him. I will believe that they can effectrively run the ball with their backs when I see it.

-Quincy Skinner had what I thought was his best day. He made a few catches for touchdowns and had his best day today. Other than him not many of the receivers did much of anything. The transfers have been really quiet. Fouonji looks the part but hasn't produced much since the first few days. Made a high pointed catch today but that was it. Micah Bell may only be used when he can get a touch, that's based on how I feel he's adapted to the position as a whole more than anything. Jeremiah Dillon hasn't done a whole lot.

-Tristen Brown may be their hardest guy to defend one-on-one. Brycen Coleman was quiet. Joseph McVay had what might've been his best day. He's got more YAC ability than I thought. McVay seems to make a big play or two each day but isn't consistently targeted.

-Junior Sherrill made a few nice plays, he's gonna be their best or second best receiver. Seems to have a connection with Pavia. The third receiver will likely be Fouonji or Richie Hoskins if I had to guess. Probably Fouonji.

-Cole Spence quietly made a bunch of plays today. Probably the best day of camp or one of them for Eli Stowers, although he wasn't all over the place. Tyler Fortenberry finally showed something, think Kameran Johnson is ahead of him still. I like Emmanuel Adebi as a blocker but don't think he'll be targeted much.

-Dariyan Wiley, Boski Barrett, Witt Edwards, Grayson Morgan and Gabe Fisher were doing work on the side.

Offensive standouts:
-WR Quincy Skinner
-TE Cole Spence
-WR Junior Sherrill
-WR Joseph McVay

Defense

-Thought the defense won the day.

-The line was impressive early and looked good in the run game. That opened things up for the secondary and linebackers a bit.

-Randon Fontenette has been better than I originally thought he'd be. Kind of all over the place. Bryan Longwell meets the same criteria. He's ahead of Prince Kollie in my book, Kollie has been quiet-ish. Yilanan Ouattara made an impact, so did Bradley Mann and Khordae Sydnor.

-Think De'Rickey Wright will continue to play safety and maybe will be used elsewhere on third down.

-Marlen Sewell made an interception today, as did Bryce Cowan, Langston Patterson and Taco Wright. Prince Kollie forced a fumble on I think Moni Jones.

-Taco Wright also had a PBU and another interception. He was the MVP of the day.

-CJ Taylor, Dontae Carter and Christian James were off to the side working.

Defensive Standouts:
CB Taco Wright
STAR Randon Fontenette
LB Bryan Longwell
LB Bryce Cowan

Vaughn could get an opportunity here with CMC hurt and backup Elijah Mitchell also banged up. Maybe Shanahan watched Vaughn's college tape and thinks he can do something with him. Would love to see Vaughn stick in the league.

Vanderbilt alum Lily Williams won a gold medal in the team pursuit cycling event. Lily was a track and field athlete at Vandy before turning to cycling. Way to go. Lily!

Today, my grand-nephew, Hampton Morris, won the bronze medal in the 61 Kilo men’s weightlifting competition. The VU connection is that, in addition to being the grand-nephew of a 1979 alumnus, and the cousin of several other VU grads, his dad (and coach) earned his chemistry PhD from VU. Hamptom became the first US men’s weightlifting medalist in 40 years, and the youngest in 68 years. At 20 yrs of age, look for even more at the LA Olympics in 2028.

When is it?

Strong rumors east of here are that someone else threw the chair off the bar rooftop. Morgan took the fall for a certain favorite coach that wears orange. Said coach does not coach football or basketball.

First off, I want to say that I think Clark Lea declaring himself the Defensive Coordinator was a smart move, the right move. Personally, I think if you made the jump from a Coordinator spot to a head coach, you should probably continue being a Coordinator as a head coach. It means you have one side of the ball on lock as you build your program, after all, if you’re a competitor, who is doing the job better than you early in the process?

My question is really, how much better should the defense be with Clark Lea running the show?

Should we expect a good unit here?

Watch Amorrow Morgan, an assistant at Cal who is an up and comer. Was on the Loyola staff for a few years before going to cal.

They also may need a new DOBO if Matt Sholtis takes the Longwood assistant vacancy like Trilly indicates.

They went a bit lighter today in anticipation of full pads tomorrow so hard to get a whole lot out of today.

Defense probably won the day.

Offense (Joey):

-I liked what I saw out of the quarterbacks. Thought all of them made some throws. A few interceptions thrown, neither by the New Mexico State transfers. Pavia made some nice ones including a sizeable one to Joseph McVay that I was encouraged by. Probably a better day for Pavia.

-Johnson made some really good ones, but probably didn't leave with a whole lot to show from it. I think Johnson's got a chance to win the thing, he's so gifted. Can he be consistent, though? He's been better in the fall than the spring. The thing I do note is that Pavia is the first one they bring up when we ask about QB and he acts like the leader of the group. He's demanding and vocal. Berlowitz can make all the throws, same with St. Hilare, they're just not quite ready from the looks of it.

-Thought there were a lot of really good throws today that weren't caught. Receivers weren't great. Sherrill made a few good ones but Fouonji didn't have an awesome day. Johnson had a TD throw dropped in the end zone. Not awesome play out of that room today.

-Sedrick Alexander was back live today. Hard to tell the impact the RB's are making without them in full pads. That starts tomorrow.

-Brycen Coleman is becoming a fall camp legend. Every ball that's in the air it seems like he's found a way to come down with. Tight End is a hard position to learn as a freshman and they're deep there so I don't know where he gets on the field. Maybe in some receiver-heavy sets he plays on the perimeter. I like him more on the perimeter than in-line, think they do too.

-Micah Bell was better than he has been today but hasn't done a whole lot throughout camp. May be a guy that comes in just to touch the ball but isn't consistently out there. Tristen Brown I like more, he made a great catch today.

-Lot of scouts watching the offensive line at one point. They've got some guys there I like. Too early for me to project a depth chart I think, especially with Grayson Morgan off to the side today. If I were to wager on Cade McConnell's position I'd say center. I do wonder how Morgan factors in. I've got an idea of what I think the line will be but I'm waiting a few days to confirm it. Thought defensive line was better than offensive line.

-Witt Edwards, Boski Barrett, Grayson Morgan and Dariyan Wiley were off to the side working. No outward signs on any of them but none were live except for Wiley, but he left early.

Offensive standouts:
WR Brycen Coleman
QB Diego Pavia
WR Joseph McVay

DEFENSE (Billy)

• Unit as a whole looked solid today, the pass rush was active
• Randon Fontenette was all over the field today and getting after the quarterback consistently – he showed his versatility by getting after the passer and affecting the receivers whether that’s during the route or the catch
• Langston Patterson made a really impressive one-handed interception
• Maurice Hampton made a nice play in the endzone and looked solid in the run game
• Jailen Ruth specifically stood out as well, specifically showing some edge at the end of a couple plays
• Bryce Cowan also had a solid day, made an impressive interception
• The defensive line was active, but not dominant – neither line had a decided advantage
• Khordae Sydnor and Zaylin Wood stood out specifically in the 1-on-1 drills – think both wil play a big factor this season

Standouts:

• Randon Fontenette
• Langston Patterson
• Bryce Cowan
• Boubacar Diakite
• Maurice Hampton