Clark Lea's emotions spill over as he celebrates Vandy's win over Alabama

As Vanderbilt students carried the goalposts across town to the Cumberland River, the Commodores' head coach Clark Lea took up his post at the post-game press conference. The unranked Commodores had just defeated the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and the feeling of elation was quickly spreading across Nashville and the rest of the country.

At the presser, Lea let his emotions overflow as he spoke about his team and celebrated their victory. Lea, who is an alum of Vanderbilt, truly wore his emotions on his sleeve following the unexpected and improbable victory over the Tide.

"This isn’t a finish point, but it’s a hell of an arrival," Lea said. "This is the dream right here. For the next 12 hours, I’m going to enjoy the dream."

Heading into the matchup, the Commodores were 0-60 against teams ranked among the top five spots in the country. This win was historic, on so many fronts, and extremely special for Lea who is only in his fourth season with the team.

"Before we left the locker room, I had the guys take a knee and I just created silence for about 10 seconds because I wanted all the emotion to drain out for a moment, to tell them that they had what they needed to close the game out and that it wasn't going to take anything extra," Lea said about his message to the team at halftime. "It wasn't going to take anything special. It's about going out and playing to an identity and executing a plan, and playing with focus, and playing Vanderbilt football."

At the end of the game, Vanderbilt walked away with a 40-35 victory over Alabama, toppling the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in program history.

Lea's response to the traveling goal posts?

"That makes me happy. Obviously, we’re going to have to find a goalpost for the next home game, which I think we'll come up with," he said. "I want this city to celebrate."

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