Well, what a wild ride these past ten years have been for Vanderbilt football. This decade included 3 coaches (don’t you forget about the epic Robbie Caldwell era), 3 All-Americans, 5 bowl appearances, and a 3-peat against the ole Volunteers.
I know we’re a little late to the party. What’s the saying, “better late than never, but never late is better”? Okay, forget the last half of what I just typed. Here we go, The Dore Report is now officially releasing our all-decade team, better late than never.
The all-decade team will be released by position each day. Let’s begin.
Offense
Quarterback
Kyle Shurmur (2015 – 2018)
QB1 for the Commodore all-decade team should come as no shock to Vanderbilt faithful. A 4-year starter, 3 years as the starter for the full season, Shurmur re-wrote the Vanderbilt QB record book, breaking Jay Cutler’s passing yardage record his senior year. Shurmur started 43 games, passing for 8,865 yards, including 3 years with top 10 single season yardage in school history, and 64 touchdowns.
Shurmur led the Commodores to 3-straight victories over Tennessee for the first time since 1926, ending his career on a high note throwing for 357 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions against the orange team to the east in 2018. He led the Commodores to 2 bowl games and will be who the next successful starting quarterback is compared to, just as Jay Cutler was compared to him.
Backup – Jordan Rodgers (2011-2012)
He may have won the Bachelorette, but Jordan Rodgers will have to settle for runner-up on the Vanderbilt all-decade team.
After transferring from Butte College, Rodgers was the first quarterback to lead Vandy to back to back bowl games, including a 9-4 record in his senior season.
While only playing 2 seasons in black and gold, he was able put up some impressive numbers. In 25 starts, Rodgers accumulated 4,063 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and a passer rating of 128.9. He currently ranks 7th in school history in total offense. Despite what some Vanderbilt fans think about Rodgers’ comments after his college career, he was a great QB for the Commodores and brought a fire that led to success during the beginning of Franklin’s brief tenure.
Other Vanderbilt Starting Quarterbacks over the Past Decade
Larry Smith (2008-2011)
Austyn Carta-Samuels (2012-2013)
Patton Robinette (2013-2014)
Stephen Rivers (2014) Oof
Wade Freebeck (2014)
Johnny McCrary (2014-2015)
Riley Neal (2019)
Deuce Wallace (2019)
Mo Hasan (2019)
The Dore Report 