Vanderbilt Coach Clark Lea on slowing down LSU’s running game and his team’s health With three losses, LSU Tigers aim for a comeback win against Vanderbilt in tonight's key SEC matchup. Can the Tigers get back on track with a win tonight?

When Clark Lea's oldest son got sick about five years ago and was in the hospital for eight days, Brian Kelly — at the time vacationing overseas — called to check in on Lea's family. Today, Lea remembers that gesture when he thinks back on the mentorship Kelly, now the head coach at LSU, gave him.

For the second time this year, LSU head coach Brian Kelly will face a former Notre Dame assistant. The first round came at Texas A&M when Kelly's old DC Mike Elko got the best of LSU. Now, LSU is set to face Vanderbilt,

He took over the team’s defensive coordinator role, hired Tim Beck as an offensive coordinator with a completely different system, and recruited Beck’s former quarterback at New Mexico State — Diego Pavia — to run that scheme with uber efficiency.

Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea faces mentor Brian Kelly as the Commodores take on LSU in a game marks their first head-to-head matchup, blending respect and a fierce rivalry.

In the most recent College Football Playoff poll, LSU is unranked for the first time since 2021. Following an 11-point loss to Florida, the Tigers are on the outside looking in for the first time in the Brian Kelly era.