Vanderbilt is confident that better days are ahead after failing to win a single Southeastern Conference game for the third time in four seasons.The Commodores went 0-8 in SEC play last season, finishing with the same record during the 2021 campaign after an 0-9 showing a year earlier. They went 2-6 in league play in 2022.Defense was what held Vanderbilt back the most, with the Commodores allowing the fifth-most points per game (36.2) among 130 qualifying FBS teams. Vanderbilt held an opponent under 28 points just once, and that opponent was Alabama A&M, an FCS program.But Commodores coach Clark Lea will also be taking on defensive coordinating duties this season, and his players believe it’s a move that will fix a lot of Vanderbilt’s problems on that side of the ball.”He’s been a top three defensive coordinator since he was at Notre Dame, and he’s one of the big reasons that I stayed at Vanderbilt, just being able to play for him and his defense,” Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson said Monday at the SEC Media Days event in Dallas.”He’s really detailed it down and tightened up our structure into something that’s awesome to play for. He puts emphasis on effort and he always says it’s 50 percent what you do, 50 percent how you do it. … He’s going to put in a great plan and prep for the game super well. It’s our job to go execute it.”And Vanderbilt certainly isn’t letting its past struggles seep into 2024.