As I watched the final strike that cemented Tennessee as the national champions in baseball, it solidified something that I've long dreaded. Vanderbilt has nothing it can hold over Tennessee or any other SEC team. We are on the verge of total irrelevance, in every aspect. Football is a dumpster fire, men's basketball is starting over from scratch, and baseball, which was once our golden child, is not even the premier program in Tennessee, let alone college baseball. The only major sport trending up is women's basketball and I don't see us taking the leap to be real contender any time soon. We are in dire straits.
There are some things that can get better, of course. We can get a new football coach if this season proves disastrous again. Mark Byington has excited me so far and could potentially turn things around. Corbin, meanwhile, might finally figure out that college baseball is different than it was pre-NIL/transfer portal and adjust to it (much like Coach K adjusted to the one-and-done era to continue Duke's success in men's basketball). If none of these happen this upcoming season though, I think it will be too late for us to catch back up. College sports are moving fast and right now it seems incredibly unclear whether or not Vanderbilt has the capability to keep up (regardless of our recent influx in NIL money). This upcoming season is make-or-break for Vanderbilt's athletic department. They will either sink or swim. If they sink, I don't feel great about their chances of ever resurfacing.
There are some things that can get better, of course. We can get a new football coach if this season proves disastrous again. Mark Byington has excited me so far and could potentially turn things around. Corbin, meanwhile, might finally figure out that college baseball is different than it was pre-NIL/transfer portal and adjust to it (much like Coach K adjusted to the one-and-done era to continue Duke's success in men's basketball). If none of these happen this upcoming season though, I think it will be too late for us to catch back up. College sports are moving fast and right now it seems incredibly unclear whether or not Vanderbilt has the capability to keep up (regardless of our recent influx in NIL money). This upcoming season is make-or-break for Vanderbilt's athletic department. They will either sink or swim. If they sink, I don't feel great about their chances of ever resurfacing.
