Vanderbilt announces decision on Derek Mason's future
Derek Mason’s hot seat will wait at least one more season. Vanderbilt Athletics Director Malcolm Turner announced that the embattled coach would return in 2020.
“I want to make it very clear that Derek Mason will be our head football coach moving forward,” Turner tweeted. “Coach Mason has my full support and I am committed to working with him to ensure our football program has the necessary resources and support to succeed.”
Turner also issued a statement:
“We are in the midst of developing a new and robust athletic strategic plan with the vision to put the football program and all of our varsity sports in a position to win on and off the field of play. Coach Mason is committed to leading Vanderbilt’s football program the right way and we will move forward in that spirit together.”
The Commodores are in the midst of a tough season as they’ve dealt with a host of injuries, especially at quarterback. They are 2-8 with wins over Northern Illinois and Missouri. This is the sixth season for Mason, a former Stanford defensive coordinator, who is 26-46 at Vandy. He has yet to post a winning season and his two best seasons were with six wins, in 2016 and 2018.
On Saturday, after a loss to Kentucky, Mason spoke about the job.
“I think, collectively, there’s a lot of talent here. Vanderbilt is always going to go on waves. It just is,” Mason told reporters. “There’s going to be cycles of bowl teams and opportunities. It’s not going to be an every year opportunity unless these guys get it young and we hit it hot. I mean, there’s going to be waves and cycles in this deal, and I’m just in a wave right now, just a wave and cycle where we’re not where we wanna be. We’ve just got to continue to keep pushing.”
Mason is a great coach for Vanderbilt. They should keep him as long as they can. If he’s no longer the coach there, it’ll be because he wants to be somewhere else. it shouldn’t be because they don’t want him. He’s honestly on the higher end of what they should expect.
Not one winning season in 6 years. The AD just lost atleast half the fan base of what little fan base Vandy has. If Mason doesn’t fire his OC and DC, then he is incompetent of being a Head Coach. This is the worst news to hear. We got spoiled with Franklin.
Sorry Vanderbilt fans Mizzou fans feel your pain…….. I just wish that when fan bases say we will not show up they would, and that would be a message they will understand.
It would be an empty promise for the Vandy fan base to say “we will not show up”. They don’t show up anyway. I’ve been to several Vandy games and the visiting crowd always exceeded the home crowd, even during winning seasons. That is why they will always struggle to get a good coach and struggle to recruit good players.
They cannot afford the buyout, just like Lovie Smith and Illinois last year. The problem isn’t the coaching; it’s the talent acquisition, and Nick Saban couldn’t recruit a top 20 class to this school where 13 other SEC teams can recruit top 20 classes.
How many 4-star and higher recruits can Vandy sign in one season? The answer is usually 3 to 5. These are not how many they will sign, just how many of the top 300 players would consider Vandy. In most years, they sign 0 4-stars. They are lucky to get 1 on the roster at any time.
Other SEC temas have 4-star 2nd stringers, while Vandy is lucky to have 22 3-stars on their first 22.
Lets move Vandy to the ACC and put Clemson in the SEC. Gives Vandy a better chance of playing vs equal talent and we can then find out if Clemson is for real.
Well then Vandy wouldn’t be able bring national championships to the SEC, just like Georgia.
LOL you are honestly comparing Vandy to Ga? Look I respect Vandy for being an elite educational institution… Football has never been their primary focus.. Coach Mason is a standup guy and Vandy is lucky to have him… Sec is a Football power and Vandy would just be more competitive in another conf like the ACC
Pretty sure they’re talking baseball championships
Pretty sure he was joking
In my lifetime uga and vandy have won the same number of national championships in football. I did see GaTech win one.
You’re probably a bandwagon non-alumni, given the idiocy of your stmt. Vandy is a founding member who has won a natty in a top sport more recently than your school. Maybe we should kick out UGA and bring in Ga Tech since they’ve won the more recent football natty?
I think he has done okay with the hand is dealt. Vandy is a great school but small school and have had some great athletes over the years but being in the SEC just don’t get the top players from the talent pool up against your bigger schools. Not from lack of heart but I never really see them as a top SEC team but like they have many times in the past against my Dawgs are good enough on any given Saturday to spoil the chances of top ranked teams seasons. Best of luck to you coach…. that is unless you’re playing GA. Lol
None of these canidate’s could lead Arkansas to any chance at a BCS game none the less a SEC Championship. A couple maybe 3 will get them to 7-5 or 8-4 in about 3 to 4 years. The window on a new coach closes after 3rd year of recruiting his players. If he fails after 3 yrs kids will not come. So these 5 4 can’t help you. kiffin best best comes with risk. If hogs would pay maybe someday they might end up n a BCS game
Amazing ! But it’s Vandy…any SEC coach with a 24 Win 46 Loss Record would have been run out of the state a long time ago. But it’s Vandy. Does anyone remember the glory days of James Franklin’s tenure there ? So it can be be don, you know.
Any SEC school that hires a a former D Coordinator should expect a vanilla offense and a decent defense. Note: Will Muschamp at South Carolina…but his D is not so hot anymore.
Vanderbilt is an Academic University(not really ideal to recruit to, right ?) So the talent level is more like the poor ACC. Vandy, you Are What You Are & you’re not getting another competent coach like James Franklin, ever. Those Days Are Gone.
My friend that gives me a lot of inside information that I then post here and other places has written an excellent piece on the 60-year issue with Vanderbilt football and the issues going forward.
His website is the “PiRate Ratings”, which is also one of the most accurate computer college and pro football ratings. I originally found him through the link at The Prediction Tracker.
IMO James Franklin proved you can win and recruit well at Vandy. These “were an academic school” excuses really gotta go.
So this means the anchor is down with Mason?
Vandy didn’t know how to handle the success that Franklin brought, all those fans in stands was a shock to the system.
Vandy could clearly afford to hire a better coach, if they actually wanted one, it’s pretty clear they don’t.
Every Conference has its bottom dwellers. For the SEC its Vandy and Arkansas.
Derek Mason plays the hand the admissions office deals him. Who is anyone kidding. He does it with class and courage and his own brainpower. How many players at Vanderbilt do you see taking PEDs. One at the most. Compare that to Clemson, and probably a quarter of the rest of the SEC. Half the Big 10, a quarter of the Big 12. And don’t get me started on what fuels the PAC.