Vanderbilt’s football revival: Fans eager to check out undefeated Commodores

By Canadian Press on September 28, 2025.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ray Campbell finally stepped foot back on Vanderbilt’s campus for a football game, his first in more than a decade.

Yes, Vandy’s first stadium renovation since 1981 helped. How the No. 16 Commodores are playing this season, with cocky quarterback Diego Pavia and coach Clark Lea guiding his alma mater, is the bigger draw at a program long derided as “Same old Vandy,” the SEC cellar dweller.

”I just feel that the culture’s changed, and so obviously you want to be a part of that a little bit,” Campbell said. “As a longtime fan, I’ve lived here my whole life. And so it’s pretty cool to see the new stadium and the things they’ve done. But it’s kind of the culture change and Pavia and Lea leading that.”

The 58-year-old fan has lots of company jumping on the bandwagon with Vanderbilt (5-0) off to its best start since 2008 and its highest ranking since reaching No. 13 that season.

Freshman Zachary Port from Boca Raton, Florida, hasn’t missed a home game yet. The economics and history major got to Nashville knowing the Commodores’ success last season, including the biggest upset in program history over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Vanderbilt goes to No. 10 Alabama on Saturday with a big Southeastern Conference road win already to its credit over then-No. 11 South Carolina. Port watched that big win earlier this season with friends believing Vanderbilt would win that game, no underdog thoughts at all.

“And it’s just been a really crazy thing to watch, especially like for this program,” Port said. “It’s historically never really been like this. So yes, just a crazy moment on campus right now.”

Vanderbilt got help with a bit of marketing from the Netflix documentary “Any Given Saturday” that includes two episodes with plenty of Commodores. As Chancellor Daniel Diermeier suggests: “If you haven’t watched that, episodes three and five. And don’t mind the swearing.”

Hiring Lea was a big step. Vanderbilt lured him back to his alma mater from Notre Dame, where he was defensive coordinator. Lea started out looking for the right athlete to fit the SEC’s smallest and only private university to landing Pavia through the transfer portal.

Now Lea can look up and see a stadium filled with black and gold for a non-conference game with students filling up their section.

“It means a lot to me,” Lea said. “Now go back a few years ago and we didn’t have that.”

Vanderbilt also started Vandy United in March 2021 to renovate athletic facilities. Dudley Field, the first football-specific stadium in the South opening Oct. 14, 1922, topped the list. Both end zones were torn down and rebuilt for comfort,luxury seating and state-of-the art electronics after decades of neglect.

“It oozes Diego Pavia-level confidence,” athletic director Candice Storey Lee said.

Pavia has been the biggest on-field catalyst for Vanderbilt’s revival. Lea also hired Pavia’s coach, Jerry Kill, and offensive coordinator Tim Beck from New Mexico State.

The stunning win over Alabama got Vanderbilt into the AP Top 25. A hamstring injury for Pavia resulted in a season-ending slump capped by a win over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl, even as the quarterback went to federal court to win more playing time.

Pavia’s taking full advantage. He orchestrates the SEC’s second-highest scoring offense — fourth nationally — with his arm and legs. He is completing 74.6% of his passes for 1,211 yards with 13 touchdowns, tied for the SEC lead, and three interceptions. He also has 294 yards rushing and two more scores.

Vanderbilt is fun to watch, scoring 30 or more points in each of its first five games for the first time since 1915. The 245 points scored ranks Vandy ninth all-time for most points scored by an SEC team through five games.

It’s why Pavia expects his first and only collegiate game in Tuscaloosa to be fun.

“This is what you come in the SEC for … big games like this,” Pavia said. “So we’ll be really excited to to go down there and check them out.”

Campbell thought of what his late father might think as a longtime Vanderbilt fan.

“It’s not your grandfather’s Vandy team anymore,” Campbell said. “It’s not even your dad’s Vandy team anymore. It’s a little bit different. And so yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

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Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press