[Tuck4Bama]

A couple of guys involved in one of Vanderbilt's more successful football campaigns in recent memory are looking to temporarily derail this Commodore team's improvement — for this week, at least.

Eastern Michigan's athletics director is Dr. Derrick Gragg, who caught 40 passes for 646 yards and three touchdowns from 1988-91.

Gragg was a senior on Gerry DiNardo's first Vanderbilt team that finished 5-6.

EMU offensive line coach Chris Symington worked as offensive line coach under DiNardo, spending four seasons on the Commodore staff before going on to Western Kentucky and Tennessee State for four years each.

Vanderbilt meets the visiting Eagles at 6 p.m. on Saturday, wrapping up a four-game, season-opening homestand.

"It's a very similar situation here to what we had at Vanderbilt in the '90s," said Symington, who arrived at the Mid-American Conference school with Coach Jeff Genyk in 2004. "We're trying to rebuild and establish a winning tradition."

Eastern Michigan staff has ties to Commodores - Nashville, Tennessee - Wednesday, 09/26/07