It goes without saying that Derek Mason’s Vanderbilt defense is going to miss former linebacker Zack Cunningham. Be that as it may, Mason said it anyway during a Thursday radio interview.

Cunningham left school early, declaring himself eligible for the 2017 NFL Draft following Vanderbilt’s Independence Bowl loss to N.C. State. The decision proved to be a wise move, as Cunningham was selected by Houston in the second round of last weekend’s draft.

While appearing on the 94.5 WJOX radio show The Opening Drive Thursday, Mason was asked about his former star pupil. Of course, Mason immediately sang the praises of the former All-SEC performer.

“Zach Cunningham was an extremely good football player here at Vanderbilt University,” Mason said on the air. “Holds a lot of records, probably the most acclaimed linebacker to come out of Vanderbilt. When you lose a talent of Zach’s abilities, it’s hard to replace. He’ll be successful in the NFL. I’m truly excited for him going to the Texans, and his family.”

Mason admitted the Commodores won’t be able to replace Cunningham’s production on the field with a single player next season. Instead, Vanderbilt will attempt to replace the two-time All-SEC selection by committee. Mason offered up the names of three players that immediately came to mind tasked with replacing Cunningham.

“I don’t think you replace a Zach Cunningham with one player. For us, we are going to have to play middle linebacker by committee as I look at it,” Mason said. “We have some guys that played a lot of football, guys like Emmanuel Smith, Jay Hockaday, Oren Burks, just to name a few. Those guys have played football here at Vanderbilt, those guys have games under their belts but we’re going to have to do it by committee. The impact on this defense with Zach leaving is huge.”

Time will tell how the approach works for the Commodores but the task at hand of replacing arguably the best linebacker in school history is a monumental one heading into the 2017 season.