Vanderbilt recruiting class: Commodores must add commitments to improve roster
By Jason Hall
Published:
The Vanderbilt Commodores experienced a nightmare season in 2014. The Commodores went 3-9 (0-8 SEC) in Derek Mason’s first season as head coach, which led to the firings of four assistants.
When Mason took over in January, his first task was to salvage a depleted recruiting class. Former head coach James Franklin poached most of the 2014 class he was responsible for prior to accepting the same position at Penn State.
Mason managed to sign 22 players, but ranked No. 46 overall and last in the SEC. Vanderbilt’s upcoming class currently ranks No. 50 overall and No. 13 in the conference. The Commodores have two four-star commits, Donovan Sheffield and Josh Smith, and just seven nationally ranked players.
Mason has less than two months to add commitments to the 2015 class before National Signing Day. With the Commodores out of bowl contention, the coach needs to make recruiting a top priority in order to improve a struggling roster.
Here’s a look at Vanderbilt’s current 2015 recruiting class.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Saturday Down South’s references to recruiting rankings are to 247Sports.com industry composite ranking.
| NAT RANK | PLAYER | H.S. (CITY, STATE) | STAR | POS | HGT | WGT |
| 287 | Donovan Sheffield | Ensworth (Nashville, TN) | 4 | CB | 5’11” | 170 |
| 291 | Josh Smith | Oakland (Murfreesboro, TN) | 4 | ILB | 6’3.5” | 218 |
| 450 | Kyle Shurmur | La Salle College (Glenside, PA) | 3 | PRO | 6’4” | 215 |
| 595 | Caleb Peart | Hamilton (Chandler, AZ) | 3 | SDE | 6’0” | 240 |
| 771 | Dare Odeyingbo | Cistercian Prep (Irving, TX) | 3 | ILB | 6’1” | 243 |
| 786 | Sam Dobbs | Landmark Christian School (Fairburn, GA) | 3 | TE | 6’4” | 220 |
| 984 | Justin Skule | Centreville (Clifton, VA) | 3 | OT | 6’6” | 280 |
| N/A | Josh Crawford | Edgewood Academy (Elmore, AL) | 3 | RB | 5’11” | 214 |
| N/A | Andrew Rector | Father Ryan (Nashville, TN) | 3 | S | 6’1” | 190 |
| N/A | Ean Pfeifer | Bentonville (Bentonville, AR) | 3 | OT | 6’5” | 285 |
| N/A | Kyle Anderton | Station Camp (Gallatin, TN) | 3 | TE | 6’4″ | 260 |
| N/A | Darion DeBrossard | Shiloh (Snellville, GA) | 3 | OG | 6’5” | 320 |
| N/A | T.J. Smith | Colquitt County (Moultrie, GA) | 3 | SDE | 6’3.5″ | 250 |
| JUCO 138 | Nehemiah Mitchell | City College of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) | 3 | SDE | 6’5” | 265 |
A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky
