Vanderbilt football co-defensive coordinator Nick Lezynski opted to stay when others came calling.
NASHVILLE—-In another world, Nick Lezynski could’ve been walking Notre Dame’s linebackers through drills or evaluating Rutgers’ personnel as its defensive coordinator on Tuesday morning. But, he wasn’t.
Instead, Lezynski bypassed Vanderbilt linebacker Jamison Curtis and asked him if it was his first time speaking with the media as he reached for the mic to do it himself at Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center. The Vanderbilt co-defensive coordinator had his pick of a few jobs in the weeks following the conclusion of Vanderbilt’s 2025 season. In the end, he chose Vanderbilt. He chose to keep building this thing with one of his biggest allies in the profession, Clark Lea. Opting to turn down an opportunity to have a role at Notre Dame and take on a defensive coordinator role at a power-five program appeared to be unlikely at the time. Lezynski, though, didn’t subscribe to that thinking. “No brainer,” Lezynski said in regard to the decision he made to stick around at Vanderbilt. “My family and I love this place. It starts with the people. It starts with Coach Lea. Coach Gregory, love working with them. The rest of the defensive staff, and then obviously the players, like, those dudes have become, like brothers, I guess I'm old enough now to say sons. Love coaching them, love being here, love Vanderbilt as a program.”Lezynski as much as any defensive staffer on Vanderbilt’s staff has been a factor in this program taking the steps forward that it has since his arrival. The Vanderbilt defensive staffer joined the program in 2022 and endured Vanderbilt’s 2-10 season in 2023 before being a part of its turnaround. Gregory and Lezynski collaborated to lead a Vanderbilt defense that led to a 10-3 season and held opponents under 30 points in eight of its 13 games. All of those eight games included Vanderbilt holding its opponents under 25 points. Gregory believes that Lezynski deserves some due for those results. “He does a heck of a job, I’m extremely happy he’s back here with us,” Gregory said. “I bounce a lot of things off of Nick. He’s a really good partner as a coach and somebody to talk through scheme and different ideas with. He’s a great coach for the linebackers.” Lezynski says that a factor in his decision to return to Vanderbilt was the autonomy that Lea gives him to be the head coach of his position group. Lea is a linebackers guy at heart and is often looking over at Lezynski’s group, but Lezynski says he’s embraced that. He says it makes him better. The idea that something is working for Lezynski isn’t all that difficult to comprehend these days. Ever since joining the Vanderbilt staff, Lezynski has always worked at developing a room that was among the deepest on Vanderbilt’s roster. He didn’t know if he’d ever get it, but now he feels as if his work was worth the effort. He felt that way prior to Vanderbilt’s 2025 season, and he still feels that way. Vanderbilt has Langston Patterson to graduation, but Lezynski is still running a room that has a general lack of turnover and an abundance of depth within it. Bryan Longwell leads the room in a number of ways and is back to lead it again. Nick Rinaldi and Bryce Cowan could’ve taken easier routes to the field elsewhere, but they’ve stuck around and competed under Lezynski. The same could be said for Curtis and other Vanderbilt underclassmen like Austin Howard and Josiah Broxton. Longwell’s longevity and development track, in particular, is a testament to Lezynski’s impact around this place. Vanderbilt linebacker Bryan Longwell celebrates over Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman during the third quarter at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images “He’s probably one of the reasons I’ve been back,” Longwell–who has a Vanderbilt tattoo on his arm–said. “He's my favorite coach. He's been seeing him grow with me and us being able to grow and collaborate through my four years here. I can't put it into words. That's why it's so hard now to know how much that man means to me and how much his belief in me has meant to me.” Longwell and Lezynski’s ride together has included the Vanderbilt linebacker coming in and seeing reps in the lean years of this program’s build and has included a rise to the top together. Lezynski seemingly wouldn’t be anywhere else as Longwell takes his final ride within this program.“We're right on the cusp. and I'm just excited for the challenges ahead,” Lezynski said. “I'm excited to help take this program to the top.”Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.How Steve Gregory is Gaining Comfortability in Year Two as Vanderbilt Football's Defensive CoordinatorVanderbilt Football Notebook: Clark Lea Has Big Offensive Line Expectations, Quarterbacks, DepthVanderbilt vs. Tennessee Prediction, Odds for College Basketball on Saturday, March 7
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