Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football . The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) of the National Collegiate Athletics Association ( NCAA ) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . They play their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium , located on the university ' s Nashville , Tennessee campus . History . Early success . Vanderbilt and the University of Nashville played the first college football game in the state of Tennessee in 1890 . In 1894 Vanderbilt was among the seven founding members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association . Just after the turn of the century , the team enjoyed fairly substantial success , with a composite record of 2 – 0 3 – 2 from 1901 – 1903 . That same year , Vanderbilt began one of its oldest rivalries : the Vanderbilt - Ole Miss rivalry . Even so , Dan McGugin ' s arrival as coach from his brother - in - law Fielding H . Yost ' s Michigan program in 1904 showed an immediate impact . The 1904 squad outscored its opposition by 474 to four in winning all nine games . McGugin ' s tenure spanned the years 1904 – 17 and 1919 – 34 with a record of 197 – 55 – 19 . In 1922 , Vanderbilt hosted the University of Michigan to inaugurate Dudley Field . The game ended in a 0 – 0 tie and figures prominently in the program ' s history . VU football historian Bill Traughber chronicles the event : A young Earnest Albert Craft , born in 1898 , employed with the construction team that built the Dudley Field wooden stands was in attendance the day of the game vs . Michigan . Earnest was called on to raise the first American flag during the national anthem . Later , Rev . Earnest Albert Craft would become city councilman of in the West Nashville area and 40 year pastor of Sylvan Park Free Will Baptist Church in Nashville . Clippings of this event are documented in archives of the old Nashville Banner newspaper . A copy of this newspaper account is held today by grandson by adoption , Albert D . Mitchell . Albert , named after E . A . Craft , lives on the west side of Nashville in Bellevue . He was a graduated of Cohn High School and later return to teach and coach at Cohn High School , finally retiring from the Metro Nashville School system in 1898 . 1922 was also the year that Vanderbilt entered the Southern Conference as a charter member . The Commodores tied for the conference championship in 1922 and 1923 and continued to finish in the upper half of the conference standings for the next decade . In 1932 , Vanderbilt — at the pinnacle of its athletics dominance in the South — joined the other SoCon schools south and west of the Appalachians in founding the Southeastern Conference . The other charter members were Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Ole Miss , Tennessee , Auburn , LSU , Mississippi State , Sewanee , Georgia Tech , and Tulane . Growing difficulty . Vanderbilt football has not won a conference championship since 1923 . Vanderbilt has competed in only five bowl games ( see below ) , with a combined all - time post - season record of 2 – 2 – 1 . By comparison , none of the SEC ' s other charter members have fewer than 14 bowl appearances . Vanderbilt has finished ranked once , in 1948 , when it finished # 12 in the AP poll after an 8 – 2 – 1 season . The Commodores have found the going especially difficult since their last period of sustained success in the mid - 1950s . Since 1959 , Vanderbilt has posted only five winning seasons — in 1974 , 1975 , 1982 , 2008 and 2011 . This trend seemed to be abating in the mid - 1970s and early 1980s , with two of Vanderbilt ' s post - season appearances coming in 1974 and 1982 , and with several near - winning season records . The last Commodore team before the Bobby Johnson era with a winning record , George MacIntyre ' s 1982 squad ( with a record of 8 – 4 ) , played in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham , Alabama . In addition to the school ' s third all - time bowl appearance , the 1982 team ' s season - ending win against Tennessee , in which Vanderbilt quarterback Whit Taylor threw for 391 yards , marked a special season — but a season that proved an exception to years following , when a return to previous levels of mediocrity saw a veritable merry - go - round of head coaches . MacIntyre was unable to put together another winner , and left after the 1985 season . From 1986 to 2001 , when Bobby Johnson was hired , Vanderbilt was led by five coaches who averaged only four wins per season . During this time , the Commodores won only 18 games in SEC play . Included in this run were three 1 – 10 overall records , as well as five winless SEC records . Recent resurgence . Bobby Johnson was hired in 2002 as the head football coach . Johnson had previously coached at NCAA Division I - AA power Furman , leading the Paladins to the Division I - AA title game in 2001 , his final year . However , at the time , some questioned the wisdom of hiring a I - AA coach to lead a program in what has widely been reckoned as the strongest football conference in the nation . Vanderbilt officials had pursued and offered the position initially to Gary Barnett and Tyrone Willingham , both of whom had steered small , private universities ( Northwestern and Stanford , respectively ) to football success . Both turned down the job for different reasons . The same critics that questioned Johnson ' s initial hiring also derided the loyalty given to Coach Johnson by the Vanderbilt administration after his first three seasons at the school led to three consecutive 2 – 9 records . During this time , however , Johnson was continuing to recruit players that had been passed over by major - power schools , but whom Johnson and his staff believed could be molded into SEC - caliber players . Radical administrative restructuring . Along with this concerted program - development , Johnson joined Vanderbilt ' s Chancellor E . Gordon Gee and Vice Chancellor David Williams II in creating what the Administration called " a new culture in college athletics " at Vanderbilt . The University Administration , with Johnson ' s public support , abolished the Department of Athletics as a separate entity within the University ' s administrative structure , along with the job of Athletic Director - - a first among universities in a major Division I - A athletic conference . Intercollegiate athletics are now part of the Division of Student Life , overseen by Williams as Vice Chancellor of University Affairs . The Administration ' s loyalty to Johnson , which had paid dividends in his support for the radical changes in administration of the inter - collegiate athletics program also yielded on - the - field results in Johnson ' s fourth season at the helm of the Commodores . Difficulty in the 2000s . Since the start of the 2000 season Vanderbilt has record of only 42 – 99 and 16 – 80 in SEC play . This averages to only 3 . 5 wins and 8 . 3 losses a year . In 2005 , Vanderbilt finished with a 5 – 6 record , the program ' s best finish since 1999 . All - SEC Quarterback Jay Cutler , the team ' s offensive captain that season and the offensive player of the year in the SEC , was selected 11th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and named starting quarterback for the last five games of his rookie season . In the 2006 season , Vanderbilt finished with a 4 – 8 record with sophomore Chris Nickson at quarterback . The 2006 team ' s peak performance came with a 24 – 22 defeat of conference rival # 16 ranked Georgia at Sanford Stadium , the first time Vanderbilt had ever defeated a ranked opponent on the road . The team came within seconds of defeating Arkansas and Alabama in consecutive weeks . Vanderbilt fans approached the 2007 season with considerable optimism , given the return of many experienced starters , including WR Earl Bennett and the closeness of the Arkansas and Alabama losses . Vanderbilt started the year strong with a decisive victory over Richmond , but hopes for a win against Nick Saban ' s Alabama squad fizzled in a 10 – 24 loss marked by several controversial penalties . Vanderbilt rebounded with strong wins against Ole Miss and Eastern Michigan , but the Ole Miss victory came at a cost , as quarterback Chris Nickson suffered an injury that negatively impacted his future performance and led to his mid - season replacement by Mackenzi Adams . While Vanderbilt appeared to be en route to a convincing homecoming win against # 21 Georgia , a late - game Bulldog rally coupled with a costly Vanderbilt fumble in the final minutes of the fourth quarter led to a disappointing 17 – 20 loss . Vanderbilt rebounded with a stunning upset of # 6 ranked South Carolina 17 – 6 at Williams - Brice Stadium in Columbia , beating a top 10 team for the first time in 33 years and a Steve Spurrier - coached team for the first time ever . It was the highest ranked team Vanderbilt had beaten since defeating # 6 LSU in 1937 . In the following home game against Miami ( Ohio ) , junior wide receiver Earl Bennett made history by breaking the SEC record for most career receptions . Vanderbilt would go on to win the game 24 – 13 . With a 5 – 3 record entering the last four games of the season , the Commodores seemed primed for bowl eligibility . After a lopsided defeat against Florida and a close loss to Kentucky , the Commodores went to Knoxville to play Tennessee at Neyland Stadium for the first time since their 2005 win . Despite entering as heavy underdogs , Vanderbilt jumped out to a 24 – 9 lead at the end of the third quarter , but the Volunteers scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win the game by one point . Vanderbilt went on to lose its final game of the series against Wake Forest 17 – 31 . In 2008 , Vanderbilt began the season winning their first four games , beating Miami ( OH ) , South Carolina , Rice and Rice on the road . Vanderbilt lost its next four games , however on November 15 , 2008 , Vanderbilt defeated the Kentucky to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982 . The Commodores finished the 2008 regular season with losses to Tennessee and Wake Forest , completing the regular season with a 6 – 6 record ( 4 – 4 in the SEC ) . Their 2008 finish was good enough for the Commodores to earn an invitation to play Boston College in the Music City Bowl on December 31 , 2008 . In a come - from - behind win , Vanderbilt narrowly beat Boston College by a score of 16 – 14 , to win its first bowl game in fifty - three years . The 2008 Vanderbilt Commodore football team is also noteworthy because it won the 2008 Academic Achievement Award from the American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) . This award recognizes graduate rate successes on the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level . Vanderbilt was recognized for graduating 95 percent of its 2001 freshman class , the highest graduation rate among all 119 FBS teams . Junior cornerback D . J . Moore received All - SEC first team honors for the second straight season and second team All - American honors following the 2008 season . He was later drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft . The upward trajectory of Vanderbilt football took a step back in 2009 . Despite returning 18 starters from the 2008 bowl - championship season , the Commodores finished a disappointing 2 – 10 . Numerous injuries contributed to the team ' s troubles , as several starters were lost with season - ending injuries , including Ryan Hamilton ( Safety ) , Jared Hawkins ( RB ) , James Williams ( OL ) , and Larry Smith ( QB ) . In addition , transfer WR and projected starter Terrence Jeffers was not academically eligible to play the entire season . Johnson retires . On July 14 , 2010 , Bobby Johnson announced his retirement . With less than two months until the season opener , the move was a shock to many players and fans . Said Johnson " I ’ ve decided to retire , not resign , " . Leaving Robbie Caldwell as head coach , not improving on the 2009 season of 2 - 10 just hours before the Commodores squared off with Wake Forest to conclude the 2010 season , Caldwell announced that he will resign his position as football coach immediately after the Wake Forest game . James Franklin era . James Franklin formerly a staff member for Maryland , was hired in 2011 as the new head coach after a disappointing 2 - 10 2010 season under an interim coach . Coach Franklin started out the 2011 season bringing the Commodores to a 3 – 0 start with wins against Elon , Connecticut , and SEC rival Ole Miss . This was the best start for a new Vanderbilt coach in 68 years . After losing three games including a close loss to Georgia , Vanderbilt improved to 4 wins with a homecoming victory against Army . After losing a 28 – 31 game against SEC opponent Arkansas and Florida 21 - 26 , the Commodores under Franklin defeated conference opponent Kentucky at home in Nashville by an impressive 38 – 8 , improving to 5 wins on the season . After a close loss to in - state and SEC rival Tennessee , Vanderbilt capped the season with a 41 – 7 road win against Wake Forest , finishing the season 6 – 6 , with a 2 – 6 record in the SEC , and earning a trip to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis against the Cincinnati Bearcats with a loss of 24 – 31 Vandy finished 6 – 7 . Franklin becomes the first Vanderbilt head coach to lead a Commodore team to a bowl game as a first - year head coach . Records . Coaching staff . As of 2011 , the following persons are listed as the Vanderbilt Football Coaching Staff Commodores currently in the NFL . College Football Hall of Fame . Vanderbilt Commodore football personnel have been inducted into the National Football Foundation ' s National College Football Hall of Fame . Conference recognition . Vanderbilt Commodores personnel , including coaches and players , have received recognition from the Southeastern Conference for their performances on the football field .