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Vanderbilt Commodores

SECNashville, TNFirstBank Stadium

2026: 3–⁠4 (0–⁠4 SEC). Last: lost to Arkansas 31–⁠21 at home. Next: at Kentucky, Saturday, Oct 24, 7:30 p.m. ET.

  1. W 28–⁠9Austin Peay
  2. W 35–⁠26Delaware
  3. W 35–⁠31NC State
  4. L 15–⁠21at Auburn
  5. L 14–⁠38at No. 2 Georgia
  6. L 17–⁠52No. 9 Ole Miss
  7. L 21–⁠31Arkansas
  8. Oct 24at Kentucky
  9. Nov 7at Mississippi State
  10. Nov 14Alabama
  11. Nov 21at Florida
  12. Nov 28Tennessee

Vanderbilt in the news

Vanderbilt has played football since 1890 and is 576–⁠656–⁠43 in the 1,275 games on record here, which start in 1899. Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 12, in 1948. They have won 12 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles (the last in 1921) and two Southern Conference titles, counting shared titles. Since 1937, the NFL Draft has taken 73 players from here in its first seven rounds, 9 of them in the first round. The AAFC draft also took two players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 5 players and 4 coaches from Vanderbilt. Dan McGugin (1904–⁠1934) won more games here than any other coach: 197. The most-played rival is Tennessee: 117 meetings, Tennessee leads 79–⁠33–⁠5. This season, under Clark Lea, they’re 3–⁠4.

FirstBank Stadium in Nashville
FirstBank StadiumPhoto: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 2019Vanderbilt beat No. 22 Missouri 21–⁠14 at home.

Résumé

All-time record
635–⁠680–⁠50 official; 576–⁠656–⁠43 on file; how we count
Postseason
5–⁠5 bowls, title games, playoff
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
0 of 43 ranked
Elo now
1532 69th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 58 · Composite No. 62 in FBS, Oct 17; down 9 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1906 rated 1762
Conference titles
14 last in 1923
Bowl record
5–⁠4–⁠1 official, bowls only
Seasons
124 since 1899, 1,275 games

Identity

Fight song
Dynamite!
Apparel
Nike
Band
Spirit of Gold Marching Band since 1920, about 110 members

2026 season 3–⁠4

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsAustin PeayW 28–⁠986%
Sep 12vsDelawareW 35–⁠2678%
Sep 19vsNC StateW 35–⁠3169%
Sep 26atAuburnL 15–⁠2160%
Oct 3at2GeorgiaL 14–⁠3826%
Oct 10vs9Ole MissL 17–⁠5248%
Oct 17vsArkansasL 21–⁠3175%
Oct 24atKentuckyPreview33%
Nov 7atMississippi StatePreview44%
Nov 14vsAlabamaPreview36%
Nov 21atFloridaPreview39%
Nov 28vsTennesseePreview37%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Vanderbilt’s Elo through 2026: 1619 going into the opener, 1532 after the latest game.155016001650Elo 1619 going in; beat Austin Peay 28–9Elo 1626 going in; beat Delaware 35–26Elo 1635 going in; beat NC State 35–31Elo 1645 going in; lost to Auburn 21–15Elo 1621 going in; lost to Georgia 38–14Elo 1605 going in; lost to Ole Miss 52–17Elo 1571 going in; lost to Arkansas 31–21Now: Elo 1532 after the latest game1532
Austin PeayDelawareNC StateAuburnGeorgiaOle MissArkansasNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses.

Future schedule

2027–⁠33
20273 games: 2 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20283 games: 3 home, non-conference only
20292 games: 2 home, non-conference only
20301 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20312 games: 1 home, 1 away, non-conference only
20321 game: 1 away, non-conference only
20331 game: 1 home, non-conference only

Vanderbilt’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of September 8, 2026). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookAll-time letterwinnersThe money

On the 2026 team

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Vanderbilt.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Mascot
Mr. Commodore · Sources disagree 1 source give Mr. Commodore; others give Mr. (1 source). Chosen by count of sources, then the newest, for this season; needs a reviewer.
Offensive coordinator
Tim Beck · Official source
Defensive coordinator
Steve Gregory · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Nike. Extension through 2023. A 2015 extension ran through 2023. The current term hasn't been confirmed here.

  • Vanderbilt Athletics, Jul 7, 2015: Nike extension through 2023; value not disclosed
  • WKRN News 2, Jul 8, 2015: Vanderbilt extended its Nike deal through 2023

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026. Our own research hasn’t confirmed the outfitter yet.

Program strength since 1899

Best seasons ever
Vanderbilt end-of-season Elo from 1899 to 2026, best in 1906 at 1762.130015001700190019001920194019601980200020201906 peak: Elo 1762
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Clark Lea2021–⁠202629–⁠40
Todd Fitch20200–⁠1
Derek Mason2014–⁠202027–⁠55
James Franklin2011–⁠201324–⁠15
Robbie Caldwell20102–⁠10
Bobby Johnson2002–⁠200929–⁠66
Woody Widenhofer1997–⁠200115–⁠40
Ron Dowhower1995–⁠19964–⁠18
Gerry DiNardo1991–⁠199418–⁠26
Watson Brown1986–⁠199010–⁠45
George MacIntyre1979–⁠198525–⁠52–⁠1
Fred Pancoast1975–⁠197813–⁠31
Steve Sloan1973–⁠197412–⁠9–⁠2
Bill Pace1967–⁠197222–⁠38–⁠3
Jack Green1963–⁠19667–⁠29–⁠4
Arthur Guepe1953–⁠196239–⁠54–⁠7
Bill Edwards1949–⁠195221–⁠19–⁠2
Red Sanders1940–⁠194836–⁠22–⁠2
Doby Bartling19453–⁠6
Ray Morrison1918–⁠193929–⁠22–⁠2
Dan McGugin1904–⁠1934197–⁠55–⁠19
J.H. Henry19036–⁠1–⁠1
W.H. Watkins19028–⁠1
James L. Crane18990–⁠1

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesVAN record
Tennessee11733–⁠79–⁠5 ‡
Ole Miss9740–⁠55–⁠2 ‡
Kentucky9745–⁠48–⁠4 ‡
Alabama8720–⁠61–⁠4 †
Georgia8017–⁠61–⁠2
Florida5711–⁠44–⁠2
Tulane4817–⁠28–⁠3
Auburn4320–⁠22–⁠1

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Sewanee.

Every opponent (139)

Every program Vanderbilt has played, A to Z, with Vanderbilt’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

14, counting shared titles
Southern Conference 2
1922 (shared), 1923
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association 12
1897, 1901, 1903 (shared), 1904 (shared), 1905, 1906 (shared), 1907, 1910 (shared), 1911, 1912, 1915, 1921 (shared)

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1890–⁠1891
  2. SIAA 1892–⁠1921
  3. SEC since 1933
  • 1932Joined the SEC from the SoCon. Source

Vanderbilt’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

National award winners

All awards
2025Diego Pavia QBUnitas Golden Arm
2025Eli Stowers TEMackey, Campbell Trophy
2025Clark Lea coachEddie Robinson
1982George MacIntyre coachBobby Dodd Award

Consensus All-Americans 8

2025Eli Stowers TE
2016Zach Cunningham LB
1984Ricky Anderson P
1982Jim Arnold P
1958George Deiderich OG
1932Clarence Gracey C
1924Henry “Hek” Wakefield E
1923Lynn Bomar E

Led the nation 5

1983Keith Edwards receptions (97 catches)
1967Bob Goodridge receptions (79 catches)
1950Bucky Curtis receiving yards (791 yds), yards per catch (29.3)
1949Lee Nalley punt return yards (498 yds)
1948Lee Nalley punt return yards (791 yds)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

Heisman runners-up and finalists

The votes
2025Diego Pavia QB2nd

Second to fifth in the vote, from each season’s Wikipedia article.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
5
Coaches
4
1996Red Sanders coach here, 1940–⁠1948
1986Bill Edwards coach here, 1949–⁠1952
1970John Tigert RB/FB
1970Josh Cody OT
1962Bill Spears QB
1959Carl Hinkle C
1956Lynn Bomar E
1954Ray Morrison coach here, 1918–⁠1939
1951Dan McGugin coach here, 1904–⁠1934

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
73 since 1937
First-round picks
9
AAFC picks
2 1947
2008Chris Williams OTNo. 14, Chicago Bears
2006Jay Cutler QBNo. 11, Denver Broncos
1986Will Wolford OTNo. 20, Buffalo Bills
1984Leonard Coleman DBNo. 8, Indianapolis Colts
1960Tom Moore RBNo. 5, Green Bay Packers
1958Phil King FBNo. 12, New York Giants
1956Charles Horton RBNo. 11, Los Angeles Rams
1952Bill Wade QBNo. 1, Los Angeles Rams

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

Vanderbilt University
Enrollment
13,575 7,221 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Nashville, Tennessee
Public or private
Private nonprofit; Research 1
Founded
1873
Graduates’ median earnings
$91,565 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @vandyfootballInstagram @vandyfootballFacebook vanderbiltathletics
Athletics department
YouTube user/vucommodores

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones vucommodores.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

Old photographs

From libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives and credited to it. The records don’t give these a season.

On the newsreel

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Books

Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20263–⁠40–⁠4Clark Lea15321.2
202510–⁠36–⁠215Clark Lea167820.3
20247–⁠63–⁠5Clark Lea15014.9
20232–⁠100–⁠8Clark Lea1329-12.7
20225–⁠72–⁠6Clark Lea1413-4.7
20212–⁠100–⁠8Clark Lea1249-19.4
20200–⁠90–⁠9Derek Mason, Todd Fitch1278-16.8
20193–⁠91–⁠7Derek Mason1376-10.4
20186–⁠73–⁠5Derek Mason14967.6
20175–⁠71–⁠7Derek Mason14690.6
20166–⁠73–⁠5Derek Mason1482-1.2
20154–⁠82–⁠6Derek Mason1420-1.6
20143–⁠90–⁠8Derek Mason1406-4.3
20139–⁠44–⁠424James Franklin16357.5
20129–⁠45–⁠323James Franklin160310.0
20116–⁠72–⁠6James Franklin14908.1
20102–⁠101–⁠7Robbie Caldwell1315-10.0
20092–⁠100–⁠8Bobby Johnson1378-5.5
20087–⁠64–⁠4Bobby Johnson1498-2.0
20075–⁠72–⁠6Bobby Johnson14492.5
20064–⁠81–⁠7Bobby Johnson13931.9
20055–⁠63–⁠5Bobby Johnson1412-3.8
20042–⁠91–⁠7Bobby Johnson1334-6.2
20032–⁠101–⁠7Bobby Johnson1315-8.6
20022–⁠100–⁠8Bobby Johnson1320-6.7
Every season back to 1899 (99 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20012–⁠90–⁠8Woody Widenhofer1333-9.0
20003–⁠81–⁠7Woody Widenhofer1407-8.1
19995–⁠62–⁠6Woody Widenhofer1407-1.0
19982–⁠91–⁠7Woody Widenhofer1330-16.9
19973–⁠80–⁠8Woody Widenhofer1359-3.8
19962–⁠90–⁠8Ron Dowhower1348-6.2
19952–⁠91–⁠7Ron Dowhower1380-8.5
19945–⁠62–⁠6Gerry DiNardo1468-3.7
19934–⁠71–⁠7Gerry DiNardo1440-2.8
19924–⁠72–⁠6Gerry DiNardo14220.5
19915–⁠63–⁠4Gerry DiNardo1418-4.0
19901–⁠101–⁠6Watson Brown1255-26.3
19891–⁠100–⁠7Watson Brown1303-12.5
19883–⁠82–⁠5Watson Brown1400-8.7
19874–⁠71–⁠5Watson Brown1424-0.3
19861–⁠100–⁠6Watson Brown1315-14.9
19853–⁠7–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1George MacIntyre1395-13.0
19845–⁠62–⁠4George MacIntyre14475.0
19832–⁠90–⁠6George MacIntyre13920.0
19828–⁠44–⁠2George MacIntyre15437.5
19814–⁠71–⁠5George MacIntyre1389-0.9
19802–⁠90–⁠6George MacIntyre1276-15.3
19791–⁠100–⁠6George MacIntyre1266-17.2
19782–⁠90–⁠6Fred Pancoast1286-20.4
19772–⁠90–⁠6Fred Pancoast1335-10.4
19762–⁠90–⁠6Fred Pancoast1387-6.7
19757–⁠42–⁠4Fred Pancoast1515-7.6
19747–⁠3–⁠22–⁠3–⁠1Steve Sloan155512.2
19735–⁠61–⁠5Steve Sloan1422-2.0
19723–⁠80–⁠6Bill Pace1366-5.6
19714–⁠6–⁠11–⁠5Bill Pace14230.0
19704–⁠71–⁠5Bill Pace14270.3
19694–⁠62–⁠3Bill Pace1482
19685–⁠4–⁠11–⁠3–⁠1Bill Pace1486
19672–⁠7–⁠10–⁠5Bill Pace1353
19661–⁠90–⁠5Jack Green1338
19652–⁠7–⁠11–⁠5Jack Green1388
19643–⁠6–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1Jack Green1392
19631–⁠7–⁠20–⁠5–⁠2Jack Green1341
19621–⁠91–⁠6Arthur Guepe1304
19612–⁠81–⁠6Arthur Guepe1361
19603–⁠70–⁠7Arthur Guepe1416
19595–⁠3–⁠23–⁠2–⁠2Arthur Guepe1552
19585–⁠2–⁠32–⁠1–⁠3Arthur Guepe1563
19575–⁠3–⁠23–⁠3–⁠1Arthur Guepe1534
19565–⁠52–⁠5Arthur Guepe1512
19558–⁠34–⁠3Arthur Guepe1594
19542–⁠71–⁠5Arthur Guepe1425
19533–⁠71–⁠5Arthur Guepe1444
19523–⁠5–⁠21–⁠4–⁠1Bill Edwards1495
19516–⁠53–⁠5Bill Edwards1502
19507–⁠43–⁠4Bill Edwards1504
19495–⁠54–⁠4Bill Edwards1551
19488–⁠2–⁠14–⁠2–⁠112Red Sanders1673
19476–⁠43–⁠310Red Sanders1499
19465–⁠43–⁠4Red Sanders1478
19453–⁠62–⁠4Doby Bartling1380
19426–⁠42–⁠412Red Sanders1520
19418–⁠23–⁠218Red Sanders1553
19403–⁠6–⁠10–⁠5–⁠1Red Sanders1430
19392–⁠7–⁠11–⁠6Ray Morrison1416
19386–⁠34–⁠316Ray Morrison1568
19377–⁠24–⁠220Ray Morrison1567
19363–⁠5–⁠11–⁠3–⁠1Ray Morrison1470
19357–⁠35–⁠1Ray Morrison1583
19346–⁠34–⁠3Dan McGugin1538
19334–⁠3–⁠32–⁠2–⁠2Dan McGugin1562
19326–⁠1–⁠24–⁠1–⁠2Dan McGugin1642
19315–⁠43–⁠4Dan McGugin1607
19308–⁠25–⁠2Dan McGugin1662
19297–⁠25–⁠1Dan McGugin1646
19288–⁠24–⁠2Dan McGugin1649
19278–⁠1–⁠25–⁠0–⁠2Dan McGugin1673
19268–⁠14–⁠1Dan McGugin1629
19256–⁠33–⁠3Dan McGugin1568
19246–⁠3–⁠13–⁠3Dan McGugin1596
19235–⁠2–⁠14–⁠0–⁠1Dan McGugin1667
19228–⁠0–⁠14–⁠0Dan McGugin1709
19217–⁠0–⁠14–⁠0–⁠1Dan McGugin1657
19205–⁠3–⁠12–⁠3Dan McGugin1543
19195–⁠1–⁠22–⁠1–⁠2Dan McGugin1579
19184–⁠22–⁠0Ray Morrison1582
19175–⁠33–⁠2Dan McGugin1574
19167–⁠1–⁠13–⁠1Dan McGugin1684
19159–⁠13–⁠0Dan McGugin1643
19142–⁠60–⁠2Dan McGugin1499
19135–⁠31–⁠1Dan McGugin1595
19128–⁠1–⁠12–⁠0–⁠1Dan McGugin1708
19118–⁠12–⁠0Dan McGugin1694
19108–⁠0–⁠13–⁠0Dan McGugin1665
19097–⁠34–⁠0Dan McGugin1563
19087–⁠2–⁠13–⁠0Dan McGugin1602
19075–⁠1–⁠11–⁠0Dan McGugin1705
19068–⁠12–⁠0Dan McGugin1762
19057–⁠14–⁠0Dan McGugin1742
19049–⁠02–⁠0Dan McGugin1703
19036–⁠1–⁠13–⁠0–⁠1J.H. Henry1642
19028–⁠13–⁠0W.H. Watkins1591
1899few games on file0–⁠1James L. Crane1460

Officially 635–⁠680–⁠50 since 1890 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 576–⁠656–⁠43 (−59 wins, −24 losses, −7 ties). Our file starts in 1899; the program began in 1890. Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1900–⁠01, 1943–⁠44: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.