Vanderbilt Football will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27. Head coach Clark Lea, quarterback Diego Pavia and safety Marlen Sewell took the podium in Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon to address the media ahead of their team’s season finale.
The team traveled down to the bowl site on Dec. 23 and began practice on Dec. 24 with only a few days to acquaint themselves with the city of Birmingham. Lea, who spent his first year of college playing baseball with Birmingham Southern, had nothing but praise and excitement for the city and venue.
“Thank you to everyone in Birmingham who’s welcomed us. We’re excited to be here and play in a great game against a great team in Georgia Tech. This is a culmination of a special year for us,” Lea said. “There’s been a lot of effort and sacrifice made to get this team to this point. I think it’s also a great opportunity for us to launch into what’s next.”
Lea spoke about what the team meant, not just to him but to each other.
“This is a tight-knit team that cares a lot about one another, and we’re having fun,” Lea said. “We’re focused on preparing and playing our best against Georgia Tech, and then also, for this team to leave a legacy and make history is important to us as well.”
Pavia, who recently earned another season of eligibility after being granted a preliminary injunction, echoed similar thoughts.
“It’s very special to get an opportunity to play in our 13th game this year. We’re super grateful. This team will never be the same,” Pavia said. “We’re just taking it one day at a time, cherishing every moment, but [there will be a legacy] left here from this team that we’ll build on for next season.”
Pavia elaborated on the team’s plans for next season, too.
“We’ve got bigger dreams of going to play in January come next season.”
Lea didn’t hide his excitement about Pavia — who accumulated 2,849 total yards and 23 total touchdowns in 2024 — being granted an extra year of eligibility.
“I care a lot about Diego, first. My first point of celebration — I happened to see him in the hallway right as [the news] was all coming out, [and] I think I actually gave him a kiss on the side of the head,” Lea said. “That shows you how excited I was. I’m happy for him [and] I’m happy for our sport, too. I think college football is better with guys like Diego playing as long as they can possibly play.”
Lea also spoke about Pavia’s leadership abilities.
“As we introduce new program members and teach people what it means to be a part of Vanderbilt Football, it’s great to have his leadership voice in that room to help us carry our identity forward and look to build upon the progress of this season,” Lea said.
Lea elaborated on the importance of this game for his team and highlighted what they need to work on to find success.
“It’s a great matchup, and we’re going to have to play well. There’s a lot that we’re going to need to do that is reflective of the success that we’ve had this season,” Lea said. “We [need to] control the game offensively and [be] opportunistic defensively.”
He also acknowledged the similarities between the Yellow Jackets and Commodores.
“They got the matchup right,” Lea said. “In so many ways, we’re almost kind of mirror images. [Georgia Tech has] a tough program that plays really hard, and they’re physical. They establish a physical run game. They use formations and motions to create leverage advantage offensively.”
Ahead of his first bowl game as Vanderbilt’s leader, Lea thanked the people who had been along for the ride.
“There’s been such a neat group of people that have stayed intact and kept working with the belief that we were going to break through at some point. That is so special to think about,” Lea said. “We have opportunities now to build upon a bowl experience and hopefully a bowl win and the first winning season since 2013. All of those things are meaningful for us because it gives us a chance to reach for more.”
Vanderbilt will, as Lea said, have a chance to capture its first winning season in over a decade in the Birmingham Bowl against Georgia Tech at 2:30 p.m. CST on Dec. 27.
