Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea talks AJ Swann as QB1 and 'healthy turnover' on roster
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Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea said AJ Swann will enter the offseason as the starting quarterback during his press conference Wednesday covering the early signing period. That has been the assumed outcome as Mike Wright entered the transfer portal and the Commodores have not signed a scholarship quarterback in the 2023 class.
"AJ Swann as a freshman was able to not just break into onto the field but become the starter for us," Lea said. "We have very high hopes for him. He's demonstrated an ability to throw the ball on the perimeter, throw catchable balls, lead the offense. That's huge for our growth here from year two and year three is him heading into the offseason as the starting quarterback."
Swann appeared in nine games and started six with 1,274 yards and a 58.1% completion percentage, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.
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'Healthy turnover'
Vanderbilt football hasn't seen as much attrition this offseason as some SEC programs, but the attrition the Commodores have seen has been concentrated at a few positions.
In the offseason, Vanderbilt lost both of its starting tight ends from 2022 in Ben Bresnahan and Gavin Schoenwald as well as reserve Joel DeCoursey. The Commodores also lost their top commit, tight end Ka'Morreun Pimpton, who flipped to LSU.
Meanwhile at running back, 1,000-yard rusher Ray Davis transferred to Kentucky and reserve Rocko Griffin transferred to UTSA. Freshman Maurice Edwards was dismissed from the team. Speaking about the team's running back signees in the early signing period, Lea said that not all the attrition was a bad thing.
"For us, part of the growth of this roster, particularly when you're dealing with COVID years, is healthy turnover," Lea said. "And we appreciate everyone that's that's helped get us to this point. ... That said, I think when you're looking at creating space for growth, both growth for young players growth for the pulling in of players into the program that we feel like enhance us and build us for the future, there's a balance there, and so we finally feel like we're at a point with our roster where we've created some room for new growth and we've also given ourselves some flexibility to add in targeted ways as we move through the spring."
Vanderbilt has landed just one transfer commitment so far, from Stanford edge Aeneas DiCosmo. But Lea hinted that more could be coming in the spring window.
"We don't want to add the sake of adding," Lea said. "What we would like to do and I think what is strategic for us is − the mid year time slot that crunch there with respective transfers, just the windows very tight for us and we don't always feel like that's the place where we can best be precise in adding places where we have needs."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football: Clark Lea talks AJ Swann as QB1, roster changes
