For all the center of the college football universe talk, I found yesterday’s SEC Media Days sessions pretty run of the mill. The bravado was expected. So maybe that’s why the only quote that really made me do a double take came from Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason, of all people, who had this rather amazing explanation for why his team basically stunk on ice last year:
“I think me as a head coach, I made some assumptions a year ago about this football team,” Mason said. “I assumed that, just because we were in the SEC, that we play like an SEC team, and we didn’t.”
Say what? You’re at Vanderbilt, dude. If things were that easy, your predecessor wouldn’t have been able to grab the Penn State job.
You read a quote like that and wonder what the interview process that led to his hire was like. What on earth did Mason say to impress his future boss?
I guess that explains how you can hire an offensive hack like Karl Dorrell and believe things will work out well.
Get The Picture 
Welcome to the Greek Tragedy that is Vanderbilt Football. Derek hang in there! 🎭
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I don’t know what was said during the interview that resulted in Derek Mason being hired by Vandy. I do understand the flawed thinking, however. It is the same flawed thinking that led UT to hire SOD and FU to hire Muschamp. Just because a coach worked as an assistant at a great program under a great HC does NOT mean that the assistant will be a great HC himself. But Vandy fell for the canard that hiring Mason was the same as hiring Chip Kelly and it set their program back to rock bottom.
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What’s Mason got to do with Chip Kelly?
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Damn! I had a brain cramp. Meant to say Jim Harbaugh. Bleary-eyes this morning.
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I just assumed that the group that was in charge at Vandy for finding a football coach were a bunch of intellectual types that couldn’t find a football in a sporting goods store without help. When Mason started talking football jargon they were impressed, well and that fact that he said yes when they offered.
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This is my take as well, why would we assume anyone at Vandy would have the football acumen to make the right choice when so many others at top football schools have failed? I always shake my head when I hear people throw out the names of coordinators that are at a school that is on a hot streak, the skill sets for a HC are so much broader than for the direct reports. I wondered why a guy like Mason, who was getting lots of attention at the time, would select a school like Vandy where the odds are so stacked against you. May have been our first clue. Not saying Mason isn’t a good guy, and he may know defensive strategy like old Boom, but decision making may not be his forte.
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Bobby Johnson 🙂
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When Vandy decides to “Weigh Anchor”, their going to find Mason at the end of the chain.
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i appreciate that he blamed no one for last year but himself, but his effortless dexterity with empty jargon leads me to believe he’ll be take his talents to the broadcast booth.
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was painful to watch.
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With only an occasional rare visit from the god of relevance, FB at Vandy is like a sixth finger. Typically small, flaccid, no bone, insufficient nerves and vessels and always worthless and ‘in the way’. It becomes something to hide in a glove and possibly a source of carnival-quality fame in grade school. Nothing more than ‘big top tent appeal’ for recess. D Mason either can’t count the fingers on his hand or thinks the sixth one will suddenly become a part of a functioning tool. The flaccid, no bone Vandy in the east is good for two things; 1) getting beat by UGA and 2) beating UT Knox. We expect #1 and pray for #2.
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Mason seems to be a good dude, but every interview of his I’ve seen/read since he took the Vandy job, he’s seemed hopelessly underwater. When the Dores go 3-9 or whatever this season, it would behoove them to stop the bleeding and dump him.
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It takes a little while to get your bearings. I say he stays for a few more years.
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And then they dump him.
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What you call faith, I call naiveté. To-may-to, to-mah-to?
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Also, Franklin poached last year’s recruiting class to Penn State.
This, along with having relatively little experience in the coordinator position himself put Mason at a huge disadvantage and he looked lost at times.
I know Vanderbilt sees his Stanford credentials as a positive for their program and reputation, but Mason was just the DB coach under Harbaugh. I am not sure how much of the experience with Harbaugh will benefit Vanderbilt.
Mason will no doubt have a tough physical team, but most the SEC has that too. So far, Vanderbilt hasn’t shown they have enough skill players and experience in making adjustments to win.
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bless his heart
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Predictions are that Derek will do the West Nashville Boogie out of West End in the not too distant future after a few more losing seasons
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