Nashville, TENN--Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea doesn't want this to be a flash in the pan.

The fourth-year head coach doesn't want his team's bowl-eligible season to be a flash in the pan. He also doesn't want it to be all that his program unlocks.

He knows that to maximize on what his team has done in 2024, he's got to adapt this offseason.

Luckily for Lea, he got some experience doing that last offseason, when he landed an impactful transfer class that included nine players that are now starters for his program.

Lea knows that he's got to retain his current impact guys while adding another impact class for his program to continue moving forward.

"This is about building on this season and to build upon this season is about both retention and also addition," Lea said.

What this is also about is NIL, which Lea and Vanderbilt have embraced since the end of their 2-10 season in 2023.

Now that Vanderbilt has some proof of concept regarding what it can do on the field as a result of Lea's vision has given him optimism about what its NIL structure could look like as the offseason hits.

"The conversations I’ve had and what I’ve been made aware of is I like where we are," Lea said of Vanderbilt's NIL resources. "I feel like we’re gonna be positioned to have another strong offseason."

That offseason may be the last of its kind, or it may look different than Lea anticipates. That's a result of potential NCAA legislation on the horizon.

"We’re going to be transitioning into some sort of revenue-share model with the bridge in between that is gonna be kind of anticipating that and also knowing that the NIL systems have to be in place," Lea said.

As a result, Lea and his program will have to be smart with their money. They have to account for something that so often gets misconstrued in the modern-day structure of college football.

Vanderbilt is looking at each of its players through an objective lens as it makes decisions on its 2025 roster.

"It’s not just about retaining and not retaining, it’s also about value," Lea said. "When you start to incorporate value into it you start to have to make decisions about retention at a valuation.

"I think in the early parts of the portal window we’ll have a good feel for where that nets out and what that looks like for our team and what’s in the market that enhances who we are and what’s the value of that."

Lea estimates that after all is said and done, he'll end up with between 10 and 20 transfers, which is the range that Vanderbilt played in last season.

The Vanderbilt staff has learned from that class and plans to move forward with the attitude that it used to land it.

"I think what we’ve learned this year is that we can have success in the portal and it can be a strong part of the building out of our team and we’re not afraid of that anymore," Lea said.