Derek Mason seemed to be building something promising during his seven years at Vanderbilt, but now the building is over.
A day after getting blown out 41-0 by Missouri, the university announced that they had fired the head coach, who guided the team to an 0-8 record this season. Mason leaves as the sixth-winningest coach in the program’s history, and the second to lead the Commodores to two bowl games.
Mason arrived in Nashville, TN in 2014, but didn’t garner immediate success as the team went 3-9 in his first season. Then it appeared like things were moving in the right direction as they finished 4-8 and 6-7 in the next two seasons, the latter resulting in a trip to the Independence Bowl. But inconsistency kicked in and the team finished with a record of 5-7 in 2017 and 6-7 in 2018, where the Commodores went to the Texas Bowl. But last year they went 3-9, and this year’s 0-8 record sealed the deal for the young head coach.
While Mason didn’t have great success on the field, he was able to accomplish some major things outside of the gridiron where he wanted to affect the lives of the men he coached. Per the school’s website:
“Off the field, 59 student-athletes earned a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher, including 18 on the dean’s list (3.5 or higher) and four with a perfect 4.0. Forty Commodores landed on the SEC Academic Honor roll, and Vanderbilt scored a 991 in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate scores, the highest of any SEC program and fourth-best among Power Five schools. Three players studied abroad in France, another example of the full student-athlete experience at Vanderbilt. Blasingame also became the male receipt of the Arthur Ashe Award.
Five of Mason’s Commodores have been accepted into the prestigious Vanderbilt Medical School, in addition to more than 240 SEC Academic Honor Roll recipients and over 110 dean’s list honorees.“
Mason issued a statement on Twitter, thanking the Nashville community and Commodore Nation for their support during his tenure.
“On behalf of the entire Vanderbilt community, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Coach Mason for his many years of dedication and service leading our football program,” said athletic director Candice Storey Lee in a statement. “Derek cares deeply about the student-athletes under his charge. His tenure at Vanderbilt will be remembered for his steadfast commitment to our student-athletes, not only on the field, but in the classroom and as young people.”
While Coach Mason didn’t get to accomplish his goals on the field, he definitely made a difference to those he coached, and that’s definitely a win.
