Former Vanderbilt quarterback and current SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers joined Jared & The GM Friday to discuss Adam Sparks’ article in the Tennessean, which broke down Vanderbilt’s commitment to their football program.
Sparks reported that Vanderbilt’s administration “undercut efforts to raise funds for a stadium project to focus on building other campus structures.” He continued to report that athletic fundraisers could not attempt to receive funds from donors who are also targeted by university fundraisers.
Despite swirling rumors and Head Coach Derek Mason saying the team needs a new football stadium, Sparks says there are “no imminent plans” for Vanderbilt to begin a stadium project.
When asked what he thought about Sparks’ story, Rodgers responded, “To be honest I wasn’t surprised. That’s what I’ve experienced since I was a student-athlete and I had to take a presentation to our administration saying there wasn’t even a way student-athletes on scholarship with the money and meals provided could eat three meals a day.”
Rodgers continued to hammer Vanderbilt’s administration by saying, “There is zero foresight, there has never been any foresight from the top-down when it comes to Vanderbilt and their administration.”
Rodgers quickly addressed Vanderbilt’s stadium conundrum, but he had a different thought on what the Commodores need to do, saying, “Vanderbilt does not need another stadium. How many recruits are going to walk into a stadium and notice that the bathrooms are nicer, seatbacks are different, and there’s more space in the pressbox and will say ‘I want to come to Vandy’? None of them.
“You want to know why they want to come be a part of the program? For the facility they spend 99% of their life at which is the athletic facility right across the street from the stadium. It is terrible. It has been terrible since I stepped on campus in 2009.”
To hear everything Jordan Rodgers had to say on Jared & the GM, listen here…
