Everything Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said after upsetting No. 1 Alabama

In a weekend full of surprises, it was the game that stunned the college football world in Nashville, of all places. Vanderbilt's 40-35 win over Alabama was not only the Commodores' first win against a No. 1 team, but also the program's first over a top-five program.

Needless to say, head coach Clark Lea was a little emotional after fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts at FirstBank Stadium (and got in the middle of Nashville Inc.'s celebration).

Here's everything he said during his lengthy postgame press conference on Saturday night:

“Obviously this was a great night for a program and, you know, one that we worked really hard to put together. So up to this point I haven't been emotional, when I stand in front of you, of course I get emotional, but I think that the emotions are a testament to the level of care, and the level of investment from so many people , cheering us on to start with our chancellor who, as you know, I've said this from the beginning, but you know none of this would be possible without his belief in what we're doing and, God , his willingness to rethink, develop resources and advance this program.

Obviously to the best partner I could ever ask for: (athletic director) Candice Lee. She's a great boss, a great friend, a great mentor, and few people know the magnitude of a struggle like she does. Again, I wouldn't be here without them, from the interview to now, and without their support, their faith, their willingness to show me a path and pave the way for me to do the things that I need to do to get this To get the program on the path to where it needs to go. Again, I'm grateful and think she deserves a lot of credit.

As far as the game goes, you know, regardless of how I feel right now, we expected to win the game. It's not shocking to me, you know, I would definitely be emotional because it's a big win and conquering this stadium and as we kneel the ball out, you know I just have a picture of what I dreams Is. That's the dream. That's why I came here. That's what I came here for, and there are days when you feel like you're so close and there are days when you feel like you're miles away. And to experience that for that moment was something special and something I will never forget.

Well, we expected it and I'm proud of the way our team fought. If you look at the game itself, we knew we had to limit possession, this is an explosive offense. It's a good Alabama team. I have a lot of respect for Caleb (DeBoer). I thought his boys fought too. I think they had nine possessions. We said, you know, our big three portion of the game was a 10 possession game, so a nine possession game means we hit that mark.

“This requires a team that plays together. These are all three phases that intertwine and I am proud of that. If you look at whether we held the ball for 42 minutes, then you win games like that against good teams.” “

The second key for us was strike, counter strike. We knew they would get their games, we had to look forward at the right time. We needed the next unit, no matter what had happened before, the next unit to step on the field and dictate the energy on the field, and we did that.

I thought the way we started the game defensively, losing the ball for a touchdown, I thought moments where we made stops and got the ball back, and of course it was a lot when our offense was down countered and finished with fun possession. I felt like we delivered like that, and the special teams, you know, there were a few things we wanted back from the special teams – coming back at the start of the half – I think even the kickoff, the squib kick there we want to dot vertically at the end.

But overall, when you talk about the touchbacks on kickoffs, huge, the pin punt, they backed them up and set up a good complementary sequence that we needed, that's what a win looks like. It's a team win, that's our program. We have everything we need here to reproduce this. We were a more disciplined team tonight. We have clarified the penalties. I was proud of that. Hopefully we can learn a great lesson from this. We need to celebrate this, enjoy it and enjoy the moment, and then in 12 hours we need to turn the page and focus on Kentucky. That's what we're going to do.

This is not an arrival for our program. In a way it is the beginning. I feel like this is a breakthrough for us, but it's just important, it's only important in terms of the climb that we're on and the journey as we turn around and get right back into our process . So again: of course you know how much this means to me. I love our university, I love our city, I love our program. This is why I came back. It's supposed to be emotional because I've been through a lot here too and it just feels great to be able to celebrate with the team that I love and care about and I'm looking forward to doing this more in the future .

With that said, I would like to open it up to questions.

Q: How happy are you for the players who stuck around, especially after all the losses over the years:

I'm really happy for her. I think you know that we don't do that, we focus on our faith and we understand that at any time as a competitor… I think you know that the world is now set up so that you can avoid unpleasantness easily, and I don't take it for granted that I have a team of warriors who hold their jaws firmly against all odds. I mean, there are so many lessons to be learned from this build, and I said it after Virginia Tech and I said it to the team tonight, the guys that were here, this is their fourth year with me , there's nothing I could do Tell them you want to thank them for their faith and commitment.

That's my job, it's my passion, but I'm also kind of anchored and you know, I love a challenge and I love coming to work and I love the task of having to find a way. I think it is inspiring and remarkable that young people share this passion and love for the challenge. And yes, I'm happy for them, I'm happy for all of them, the people that we've added to this program, I can't thank them enough for that, again for their alignment with our environment, our culture, etc. with what it's about what Vanderbilt football is all about. And I know they're hungry for more too, so let's get back to work.

Q: When you think back specifically to the end of last season when everyone leaves and you make changes, how distant did that feel in that moment and what does that say about Vanderbilt and how it managed to beat the No. 1 team in the country?

I think in those moments… I mean, there were some really tough days in December, and it was this feeling of evolve or die, or adapt or die, and we had to (know) that it wasn't good is enough to just copy and paste it in the process, we had to really dig in and ask, “What does this need to look like?” It started with our statement of belief, a great, eloquent statement that we cut out and said, “We're here “To win.” You know? “We're here to win.” And so we're going to measure everything, every decision made, every dollar spent by what it takes to win, and so we've reframed some of these conversations that were really painful and really hard were because they also represented opportunities for my growth. the growth of our program, and it actually became the obstacle to the way. It became the way forward. And I didn't love it, you know? I mean, I care about everyone in this program and every time someone leaves, it's like a part of me leaves. And I think that's a nice part of it too, because that part is planted somewhere else and hopefully they take something away from the experience.

But there were days when it was: Left foot, right foot, breathe. Focus on the long-term vision and find the path to get there. What we learned in those moments, me, our staff, the support staff, I think of (general manager) Barton (Simmons), I think of (chief of staff) Ben Cauthen and I think of Molly (Hart, operations coordinator) I think to Earl Bennett (Director of Player Development) who is locked in my office trying to figure this out. What we learned, we learned the lesson of resilience and determination, and belief in the vision can be challenged to the point where you can't even see it. Are you ready to do the next right thing in the right way?

And so it definitely felt like a big gap to fill and we just focused on what we needed to do next, that included hiring (offensive coordinator) Tim Beck, that included hiring Jerry Kill, that included getting in the transfer portal, that included Candace releasing resources for us, that included, you know, keeping the team we could keep and believing in them. When we arrived in January I had a team I was ready for. And then what matters is that we have fun building this thing and making it as good as possible. That captures a little bit of what that experience was like for me, and I look back at a night like today and think, I'm really glad I had a lot of people around me to help me hold on to the rope. It is inevitable that more adversity will come our way and we must learn from it that we continue to evolve, continue to grow, continue to strive for more and continue to find ways to improve, and that is exactly what we will do.

This transcript is the first 12 minutes of his 20-minute postgame press conference. More will be added soon…

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