Fans, media react to Vanderbilt firing Derek Mason
In the wake of Vanderbilt firing coach Derek Mason, reaction poured in, including potential replacements.
The firing came after Vanderbilt lost 41-0 at Missouri on Saturday in a game where the Vanderbilt attention largely focused on the Commodores playing women’s soccer player Sarah Fuller at kicker.
The initial list appears to center on Charlotte coach Will Healy, 35, a Tennessee native and notable name in the coaching profession after he had success at Austin Peay before getting the Charlotte job. Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell, 43, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate at South Carolina, is known for having a creative offense.
A former defensive coordinator, others also speculated on Mason’s next job, and if he would return to Stanford and work for coach David Shaw.
Here is a sampling of the initial reaction from fans and media:
Butch Jones, Bret Bielema, Butch Jones, Derek Dooley, and now Derek Mason.
Mizzou is a head coach terminator.
— Austin Huff (@AustinHuff) November 29, 2020
Derek Mason gone in “things that should’ve happened a year ago”
— Bryan Bastin (@BryanBastin) November 29, 2020
With Vanderbilt parting ways with Derek Mason, you wonder if this opens the door for John Howse? The timing is perfect. Something to watch.
— Branden (@Go_Big_Red) November 29, 2020
It took getting utterly humiliated with the entire country watching to do it, but it finally happened: Derek Mason is gone. May we never speak of this era ever again.
— Luke 🤠 (@lukemukundan) November 29, 2020
Damn. Derek Mason fired. Vandy is a tough job. No town support. Standards of admission. Play gators, Georgia and tennesee every year. He’ll land a DC job for a few years and get another HC shot.
— JD Groover (@jdgroover) November 29, 2020
Derek Mason has been fired. His parting gift to Vandy was some positive publicity (since he never gave them wins).
— GA Bama Coaches (@GABamaCoaches) November 29, 2020
Sad to see Derek Mason go. He is an excellent defensive coordinator but was out of his depth as a head coach. Vanderbilt itself also failed him by giving him the worst facilities in the SEC.
— Alex Haddon Ferguson (@SECblog) November 29, 2020
Names you’ll no doubt hear for Vanderbilt
Notre Dame DC Clark Lea
Penn State DC Brent Pryand
Former Titans HC Jeff Fisher
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) November 29, 2020
This is spot on. Can’t speak directly to how good/bad of a coach Derek Mason is, but this isn’t on him. This is on the university. No one has had success there(aside from Franklin, one in a million) and a lot of that has to do with the ineptitude of the higher ups at the school. https://t.co/XwyjtoX7lO
— Noah (@dillydilly423) November 29, 2020
My nightmare as a Cal fan is David Shaw rehiring Derek Mason as DC.
Stanford finished 7th in S&P+ in defense in 2012, 10th in S&P+ in 2013 in Mason’s two years as DC. Knocked two playoff-caliber Oregon teams off their axis. https://t.co/5SibBVbOIK
— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) November 29, 2020
Can not believe Vandy fired Derek Mason. I don’t think they will get any interest from SEC worthy coaches. It’s the worst job in CFB. Mason actually wanted to be there and was a decent coach. Hope I’m wrong, but if you didn’t think Vandy could be any worse, just wait.
— Adam Polston (@Polston23) November 29, 2020
It really is a tough job. No support whatsoever ever
I thought Sarah Fuller and the free positive publicity would get him at least one more year. I’ll eat crow on this one. Pass the salt and pepper.
I’ll second that one. I hate seeing Mason getting the boot, he was hamstrung by a university and an athletic department who refuses to invest in their football program
I think a lot of people take an attitude of “Vandy is a hard job, so it’s understandable Mason did really, really bad there, and they might as well have kept him for another 20 years because again, hard job”.
I have already received multiple emails asking my thoughts on Clark Lea, the Notre Dame defensive coordinator that played at Vanderbilt.
LOL! Don’t make me laugh so hard that I snort. Lea will have 0% interest in this job, because he is ready to be a P5 head coach at a potentially successful program.
You can forget Jamey Chadwell at Coastal Carolina as well. Why would he throw away all the poker chips he’s accrued this year? If he doesn’t get the South Carolina job, he can be in the running for a dozen jobs that are better than Vanderbilt.
There are very few potential candidates that will want this job, and they all come with major liabilities as either failures at their last stop, or being out of favor with any other FBS school. Even Kansas will be more attractive than Vandy if Les Miles is axed.
Here is the legitimate list of candidates.
1. Jeff Fisher, former Titans and Rams head coach living in the Nashville area.
2. Will Healy, current Charlotte head coach and former Austin Peay head coach, who has a lot of high school contacts in the upper South.
3. Rich Rodriguez, currently out of work former head coach at West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona.
4. Jeff Monken, Army head coach, which would require Vanderbilt to go to the inverted wishbone offense and place itself in competition with the Service Academies and Georgia Southern.
5. Any of a host of FCS head coaches that are not lined up to get other FBS jobs, other than maybe New Mexico State, UConn, or UMass.
6. Dan Quinn or Tom O’Brien might be obtainable if neither can find an adequate coaching job.
7. The offensive coordinator from a decent but not great program. In other words, a guy that has no chance to get a job like Virginia Tech, but maybe would be on a short list at UL-Monroe or North Texas.
The only real way for this program to ever be something other than meaningless is to find a candidate that can recruit like crazy and be able to put a great teaching staff together.
People like Brian Hartline at Ohio State wouldn’t even return a phone call from Vandy. Maybe Rodney Garner at Auburn would talk to Vandy, but he’s not taking this job either. Anybody that has a real future in the game is going to avoid this school like the plague.
The next head coach will be either a retread or somebody not up to snuff to get a real head coaching job.
Your self worth is sky high. You have inside information on every school.
No, I don’t have inside information on every school, but I as a former journalist, I have inside information on some schools, including Vanderbilt, which I covered for multiple seasons.
If Vanderbilt spent a fair share of their SEC loot on football they wouldnt be so deep in this spot. But some pretty small home crowds dont help. They have been fortunate the past few years that Tennessee has been down and have several wins over the Vols but I dont think overall its helped the program progress much.
This may be a stupid question, but can somebody tell all of us what Vandy has been doing with their Brinks trucks full of SEC money that everybody gets?
The school makes the athletic department pay for every scholarship it awards. That cost includes tuition, room and board, and meal plans. It comes to about $15,000,000 per year for all programs, which also includes scholarships for student trainers and managers.
Additionally, the athletic programs have to pay for medical, legal, and other administrative costs, and the costs for these services is rather high in Nashville, just like everything else.
Because the cost of living is considerably higher than any other SEC city, the pay for things like secretaries, ticketing employees, etc. is higher.
Mason is a good man and a good coach. I don’t think Vandy can do better. I hate to see him go
Academic powerhouses like Stanford and Northwestern show they can win in football too… IF….the administration supports it. Vanderbilt administratively is a train wreck. I’m surprised any of their athletic programs are competitive; but some are (soccer, baseball). Minimum SEC “accepted standards” of all schools’ fanbases are (1) Never lose to inferior non-conference schools and (2) at least be competitive in conference as a whole. 41-ZERO and 0-8 is NOT competitive and will get you fired at any SEC school. Best wishes to Derek Mason as a person though…seems to be a quality guy.