ATLANTA — North Carolina coach Larry Fedora made headlines Wednesday at ACC Media Days, and it has sparked quite the debate.

First, Fedora said he thinks the football is under attack and that if football goes down, so will America as we know it.

But his most concerning statement came on the topic of CTE and concussions, as he questioned whether there was a link between the game and CTE, despite years of scientific research:

On Thursday at SEC Media Days, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason was asked about Fedora’s CTE remarks.

Mason said his SID talks to him about “hot-button topics,” so Mason was prepared Thursday for that line of questioning, particularly given his background as a longtime defensive coach.

“Every coach is entitled to their opinion, but I try not to get into my feelings about that particular topic,” Mason said. “I’ve been coaching for a while, and for me, it’s always about eyes up — you tackle with your eyes. You ensure that you run to, through and beyond contact, and when guys do that, they’re successful. When they don’t, they put themselves in harm’s way.

“Reality is, you have to teach it the right way, coach it the right way and believe in your process. I’ve been doing it the same way for the past 16 years. What I believe is that it works. With that being said, we have a duty to make sure we keep our players safe — NCAA, universities, Vanderbilt, the SEC. I believe our leadership has done a great job expressing their concerns about what’s needed and what’s necessary for us to do better and I think they’re taking the process to do that.”

Mason added that he believes the sport is safer than it’s ever been, which is a good sign for the future.

“With that being said, we’re continuing to get better and we’re seeing concussions and everything else come down,” he said. “That’s a testament to paying attention to the details.”

According to USA TODAY data following the 2017 NFL season, reported concussions at the pro level were higher in 2017 than any of the past few years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Mason is wrong.

Fewer full-contact practices, the phasing out of brutal exercises like the Oklahoma drill and increased penalties for helmet-to-helmet contact and targeting have almost certainly helped to limit concussions. The fact that more concussions are being reported (with “reported” being the key word) is a positive step, dramatically reducing the number of unreported concussions.

As some, including USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken, call for Fedora to be fired if he doesn’t acknowledge CTE, the debate continues.

In fairness to Fedora, he did say younger children shouldn’t be playing tackle football, but with the CTE research and debate at a fever pitch, his overall message came off a bit tone deaf:

As Mason noted, teaching proper tackling is perhaps the best thing that can be done to prevent and limit concussions. Football is always going to be a dangerous game, but Mason believes the right steps are being taken to keep the game moving in the right direction.

“We’re going to protect our student-athletes,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that we can do whatever we can do to ensure their safety, and that’s part of our jobs as head coaches, part of the NCAA’s job, part of the institution’s job to make sure our players are safe, and we’re doing that.”

Maybe, just maybe, America will survive after all.