Fansided

Five college football coaches who should have been fired

By Rucker Haringey

Oct 18, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong reacts prior to kickoff against the Iowa State Cyclones at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Iowa State 48-45. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong reacts prior to kickoff against the Iowa State Cyclones at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Iowa State 48-45. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
Jul 14, 2014; Hoover, AL, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Derek Mason talks to the media during the SEC Football Media Days at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 14, 2014; Hoover, AL, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Derek Mason talks to the media during the SEC Football Media Days at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

Derek Mason-Vanderbilt

Commodore fans must go to bed at night wishing they had James Franklin back in Nashville. Derek Mason fit the profile of what they were looking for to replace Franklin perfectly, but in practice it’s just not working out.

Mason has only been in charge at Vanderbilt for two seasons, but I still think we’ve seen enough evidence to conclude he won’t be a success there. He took over for James Franklin who’d brought an unprecedented level of talent to the program and hasn’t been able to do anything with it. He had just three wins his first season and managed to scrape our four victories this year.

When evaluating Mason it’s not enough just to examine the trends. If you just looked at his record, you might incorrectly conclude that the program is on an upward climb. It’s not. He took over a team that had been performing at a high level and gave it an immediate downgrade. The one win improvement this year can be easily attributed to the schedule and standard variance.

Mason just isn’t a big enough personality to overcome the weakness of the Vanderbilt program. They need someone with a larger than life personality who can ignite interest in the hearts of recruits and potential local fans. Mason just isn’t that kind of guy. He’s a solid man and a reasonable public speaker, but he’s not a rock star. It takes a rock star to be successful at Vanderbilt.

They need that type of charisma in their head coach to overcome the program’s other deficiencies. They’ve worked hard to try to close the facility and budget gap on their SEC peers, but their administration can only do so much. Kids grow up in the state of Tennessee wanting to be Volunteers, not Commodores. It’ll take generations of Vanderbilt success to change that fact absent of a charismatic head coach. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt and Derek Mason, he’s just not the right guy to succeed in the SEC’s most difficult job.

Next: Ruffin McNeill

Home/College Football