Clark Lea has big expectations for Vanderbilt Commodores in 2025. So big that people are calling him downright crazy. Lea doesn’t care about Vandy’s lack of historical success on the gridiron because he believes in the program he’s methodically building, and he believes this particular Vanderbilt team can do those big things in 2025.

With his fifth season in Nashville fast approaching, the 43-year-old coach took the podium at SEC Media Days in Atlanta and went all-in on the vision. He didn’t mince words. He didn’t hedge. He told the world what he believed: this year’s Vanderbilt team is capable of making a College Football Playoff run. “We believe we have what it takes to play into January,” Lea said. “We have to support our belief with a disciplined focus in the present. The burden of our goals is the pressure of knowing we can’t afford to have an off night. We can’t afford to have a lackluster effort or unfocused snap.”

Needless to say, that’s not something you hear from Vanderbilt’s football coach. Ever. Historically, by January, most Vandy fans fully lock in on basketball, hope for a few SEC wins, and dream of the NIT. But Clark Lea isn’t worried about that. He’s locked into the idea that 2024’s 7-6 campaign—with a shocking win over then-No. 1 Alabama in Nashville—didn’t just flash by. It was a glimpse. The beginning of something. Add the buzz of the arrival of transfer QB1 Diego Pavia, who has developed into a star. The problem is that Lea’s first four seasons in Nashville haven’t exactly screamed “playoff-bound.”

His overall record stands at 16-33, and last year’s winning season was the first under his watch. The Alabama win was program-defining, sending Nashville into an evening of sheer chaos and disbelief. It also felt like a meteor strike: thrilling, historic, and possibly unrepeatable. So, when Lea starts talking about January games, people wonder if he means January 2nd’s Liberty Bowl or something far more ambitious. Still, Clark Lea wasn’t backing down. He did not frame his words at the podium in cautious optimism. They were belief incarnate, served straight, no chaser. But for a coach still trying to claw his way to .500 in the conference, that kind of talk can sound a bit rich to outsiders.

‘Ain’t no way Clark Lea’ said the people

Vanderbilt fans may be clinging to hope, but the rest of CFB had a field day with Lea’s comments. No sooner had the quote made its way online than the takes started pouring in. “Bro might be playing in Birmingham in January, but definitely not the CFP,” one fan quipped. The reference to the Birmingham Bowl was an instant jab at Vanderbilt’s ceiling in the eyes of most fans. And honestly, it’s fair. Vandy’s bowl prospects have traditionally hovered around those pre-New Year’s pitstops, not the CFPs. Even suggesting otherwise feels like skipping five chapters ahead in the script.

“Ref do something! he’s delusional,” another posted. There’s a cruel honesty in that jab. In a sport where public perception weighs heavily on both recruiting and media narrative, people can view a coach from a program that’s historically struggled daring to say “playoff” as lunacy. Or as courage. “They’ll be the one to mess up our playoff chances if we aren’t careful. One game at a time,” another fan chimed in. Now this one’s interesting—not a complete dismissal, but rather a fear of the spoiler role Vandy could play.

“Yeah right, you’re a** will be at home playing the video game in January,” one fan wrote, with absolutely no interest in sugarcoating things. That line might sting, but it mirrors the general disbelief that Vanderbilt’s current roster could survive an SEC gauntlet, much less sneak into the 12-team playoff. Summing up the sentiment with a shrug, another comment read: “Vandy has been talking way too much.” It’s the verbal eye-roll heard ’round the internet. For a team that has only had one winning season since 2013, the sudden surge of confidence is rubbing some folks the wrong way.