4-star Omarii Sanders commits to Vanderbilt football over Tennessee, Georgia

Everything about Vanderbilt football felt right for Franklin Road Academy junior Omarii Sanders. 

Now, he represents a milestone in Commodores coach Clark Lea’s success. 

Sanders, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound, four-star prospect, verbally committed to Vanderbilt on Nov. 29 over Tennessee, Texas A&M, Georgia and Miami. 

In Sanders, Vanderbilt has a chance to sign its first high school player ranked among 247Sports’ top 50 players nationally, according to the website’s data. Sanders is ranked as the No. 4 linebacker and No. 49 player overall nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite. 

“It was Coach Lea’s message and the way his team has progressed from last year to this year. You can see they’re on the right path,” Sanders said. “He (Lea) is just a very intelligent guy. I just like how his demeanor is. He knows what he wants and what he wants out of the team and how to get it out of them.” 

Vanderbilt has forged its way into College Football Playoff discussions this fall under Lea and is enjoying one of its best seasons ever. The university signed Lea to a contract extension on Nov. 28. In his fifth season at Vandy, Lea — whose name was mentioned with recent job openings that included Penn State and Auburn — has an overall record of 25-35.

The Commodores recruited Sanders as a safety, the position he currently plays in high school. That appealed to him, he said. Schools were also recruiting Sanders as an outside linebacker or edge-rusher because of his big frame. 

Sanders has also been a star receiver while helping lead FRA (11-1) to the Division II-AA state championship game for the first time since 1991. The Panthers play BGA (12-1) for the title on Dec. 4. 

Sanders’ only official visit to Vanderbilt this season was for its 17-10 home win over Missouri on Oct. 25. 

The atmosphere was nothing like the Vanderbilt football program remembered growing up. 

“It’s very different now. They didn’t win much when I was young, but as you can see now you have to play hard to beat them,” Sanders said. “They’re not at the bottom of the barrel anymore.”

Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.

He also contributes to The Tennessean’s high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here.