Why backup quarterback Ken Seals chose to return to Vanderbilt football
In today's college football world, it's rare for backup quarterbacks to stick around. That's especially so for players who lose their starting spots.
But Ken Seals is bucking that trend with Vanderbilt football. He started as a freshman, lost the job amid an injury as a sophomore and didn't appear in a game at all as a junior.
Still, a year away from a degree, he chose to return to the Commodores for his redshirt junior season.
"It was a tough decision for me," Seals said. "I thought about it. But you know, honestly, in the end, what brought me back was I feel like there isn't any other program like this in the country. There's no team especially in the SEC that values people, values a standard, morals in a team like coach (Clark) Lea and his staff did and so as a player, and also as a real human being, I really appreciate that. I feel like I built genuine relationships with them and ... I have a lot of faith in what they're doing here, and I feel like I'll develop better as a person."
Seals performed well in Saturday's scrimmage at Ensworth High School working as the second-team quarterback. He led two touchdown drives and a field-goal drive, the most scoring drives of any of the four quarterbacks. The first touchdown drive was capped by a pass to tight end Logan Kyle and the second ended in a rushing touchdown from Dylan Betts-Pauley.
"This is something I can talk about for a long time. I mean, he's a leader for us," Lea said. "... You talk about a guy that's chosen to be a part of this, just despite not having all the results he's wanted. You think about what he went through from freshman year to sophomore year to junior year, that's a lot and in this day and age, most people run away from that. I think Ken has kept asking questions. He's kept looking for ways for his improvement. And I think he's experienced some self-discovery as a result."
The offense was up and down throughout the scrimmage. Though the defense largely dominated the first portion of the scrimmage, Seals, starting quarterback AJ Swann and redshirt freshman Drew Dickey all led touchdown drives.
Defensive lineman Aeneas DiCosmo, a transfer from Stanford, faced off against the Commodores in Lea's first year in 2021 − a game Seals started.
"Seeing the speed and tenacity and kind of the communication that the offense has now versus then, it's clearly so much better," DiCosmo said.
Defensively, linebacker Langston Patterson, safety Jaylen Mahoney and cornerback BJ Anderson both made plays, but pass-rusher Darren Agu was the biggest standout after sacking Seals on a simulated two-minute drill at the end of the scrimmage. He also had a tackle for loss at the beginning of the scrimmage.
PRACTICE SCUFFLEHow Clark Lea changed end of Vanderbilt football spring practice after altercation on Thursday
INJURY UPDATEVanderbilt football injury updates: OL Jake Ketschek out most of the season with ACL
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football: Why Ken Seals returned to be backup quarterback
