Bob Shoop says Saturday will feel like any other game. Then he pauses and admits it will be different, at least for a second.
Before Vanderbilt meets Ole Miss, Shoop has already arranged for a photo with his son Jay, and he knows exactly what he wants to do with it. The picture will go in his house, and he figures Jay will want one too. It’s a simple keepsake for a day that means a lot more than either man is trying to say out loud.
For the first time, father and son will coach on opposite sidelines. Bob is a senior defensive analyst on Vanderbilt’s staff.
Jay is Ole Miss’ inside linebackers coach. The moment brings Bob back to his years as Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator from 2011-2013, when Jay was around the program and soaking in the game from the sideline.
“I want it forever and ever as a keepsake for our family,” Shoop told Vandy on SI in regard to the photo. "It's just, who knows if and when that will ever happen again. I think it’s kind of a cool something to have forever.”
Jay’s path took him to Oxford, but some of his strongest football memories still come from those Vanderbilt days. He remembers seeing players like Jordan Matthews and Jordan Rodgers around the program, and he thinks back to the times he played catch with the children of Ole Miss coaches while watching Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy do the same now.
Rodgers, who calls Ole Miss games on TV these days, gives Jay another easy reminder of the past. Jay likes to bring up the 2012 game in Oxford, when Rodgers threw a late touchdown to beat Ole Miss.
He also remembers Vanderbilt beating Tennessee and ending a long Tennessee winning streak, along with Vanderbilt’s three games that stood out to him as a kid. But the biggest memories were the people - Matthews, Rodgers and the other players he looked up to as examples.
Jay says he grew up lucky to spend every fall Saturday at a college football game. His father never pushed him into coaching, and his brother even went another direction as a professional wrestler.
Jay still wanted this life. Now he says he’s living his dream, and Saturday will give him the most full-circle moment of his career when he returns to Nashville.
“It’s an awesome opportunity and a really cool experience to compete against him,” Jay Shoop said. “I think it will obviously be very special.
He’s obviously the greatest role model in my life in terms of the profession that I decided to enter in and as a person-as a husband, he’s obviously taught me the right way to treat my wife. Everything he’s done for me as my father growing up, I’m super appreciative for.
I couldn’t have asked for a better dad, a better upbringing.”
The two still talk almost every day, but this week they’ve kept the football conversation to a minimum. Their only messages have been about the Nashville Predators’ overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leaves, which led to one of them sending the other a text that simply read Auston Matthews, and about this story.
They both know it’s unusual, but they’re treating it like part of the job. Sunday, they say, is when things go back to normal.
Bob pulls for Ole Miss in every game except the one against Vanderbilt. Jay feels the same way about Vanderbilt.
This week, though, each man has to protect his own side. Bob has been through that before, including when he coached against his brother in 2010, with Bob then at William and Mary and his brother at North Carolina.
Maura Shoop, Bob’s wife and Jay’s mother, is in a tougher spot. She’ll be watching from home and, according to both of them, probably hoping for a low-scoring game.
Jay went even further, saying she might want a 2-0 finish. Jay also expects plenty of friends in the stands and is trying to create something like a home-field edge for Ole Miss at FirstBank Stadium.
Bob will have his own support there too, thanks to his long run at Vanderbilt.
When they look into the stands on Saturday, both Shoops will likely think about the years behind them: Bob leading Vanderbilt’s defense during some of the program’s more successful recent teams, and Jay growing up in the middle of it all. Now they’ll add a memory of their own, one that fits the life they’ve built around football.
“Football’s been a big part of our life and our lifestyle,” Bob Shoop said, “It’s not just a job for us, it’s a way of life.”
In Other News...
Vanderbilt Just Added Another Big Recruiting Win For Mark Byington
Vanderbilts recruiting momentum under Mark Byington picked up again with the commitment of Declan Griffiths, a long, high-upside guard whose shooting profile fits what the Commodores want to build. The 6-foot-7 standout has drawn attention as one of the better players in the 2027 class, and his addition gives Vanderbilt another sign that Byingtons staff can sell both player development and a clear role for skilled perimeter talent.
Griffiths had spent time weighing his options after recent visits, with Vanderbilt getting a close look over the weekend as part of a broader tour that also included Boston College and Butler. For the Commodores, landing a shooter of his caliber is the kind of early recruiting win that can matter well beyond one class, especially if Byington keeps turning that mix of size and skill into an identity on the court. [Read more 🡒]
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Ole Miss has found its quarterback stock rising quickly, and Trinidad Chambliss is a big reason why. After a strong start to the 2026 season, the Rebels signal-caller has stacked together productive passing and rushing production while looking every bit like a player who has put himself squarely on the NFL radar. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid has already taken notice, pointing to Chambliss as one of the fastest climbers in the class and a name Vanderbilt has to prepare for this week.
Reids evaluation, though, also shows why the conversation around Chambliss is not entirely settled. The arm talent and playmaking are obvious, but there is still an element teams will keep circling back to as the season goes on, and that makes his November stretch worth watching closely. For Vanderbilt, the challenge is straightforward enough: slow down a quarterback whose profile is growing by the week before the wider draft debate around him gets even louder. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Gets Key Offensive Piece Back After A Scare That Changed Everything
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Spence spent the next several weeks following medical advice and the rehab plan laid out for him, then worked his way back in time to play against Auburn. For a player grateful just to be back on the field and helping the Commodores, the comeback was a reminder of how quickly a routine practice can change a season, and how much the team can gain when a key piece makes it through the scare. [Read more 🡒]