Vanderbilt football: 5 candidates to replace Derek Mason
Derek Mason has been fired as the head coach at Vanderbilt, and here are five candidates to replace him.
On Saturday, the Vanderbilt Commodores fell to 0-8 with a 41-0 loss to Missouri. On Sunday, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, head coach Derek Mason was fired. Offensive coordinator Todd Fitch will take over as interim head coach.
In seven seasons at Vanderbilt, Mason posted a 27-55 record. He survived after a 3-9 2019 campaign, but this year’s 0-8 mark that has seen the Commodores outscored 116-294 was the last straw. Vanderbilt made two bowl games during his tenure, but they never won more than six games in a season. Three straight wins over chief rival Tennessee (2016-2018), for the first time in program history since the 1920s, stands as the highlight for the Commodores under Mason.
Mason was simply not able to replicate the success of his predecessor, James Franklin, who went 24-15 over three seasons with back-to-back 9-win campaigns. According to The Tennessean, Mason had at least three seasons left on his contract and made $3.5 million total back in 2018.
As a coaching search starts immediately, here are five candidates to be the next head coach at Vanderbilt.
5 candidates to replace Derek Mason as Vanderbilt coach
5. Clark Lea, Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator
The 38-year old Lea is in his third season as defensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish. So far this year, with notable games against Clemson and North Carolina, Notre Dame is 10th in the country in total defense (303.4 yards per game) and tied for 10th in scoring defense (16.7 points per game). He was a reported finalist for the head coaching job at Boston College last year, so it’s only a matter of time before he leaves South Bend for a head job.
Lea is also a Vanderbilt alum, having played fullback for the Commodores from 2002-2004. So if he’s going to leave Notre Dame with any preference for a head coaching job, a return to his alma mater to resurrect the program might be it.
As easy as the tie is, Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports started his list of candidates for Vanderbilt with Lea.
Some names for Vanderbilt. Start with Notre Dame DC Clark Lea, who is an alum. Charlotte's Will Healy, SMU's Sonny Dykes, Navy's Ken Niumatalolo, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, LA Tech's Skip Holtz, Buffalo's Lance Leipold, Tulane's Willie Fritz and Kent's Sean Lewis are HC names.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 29, 2020