Derek Mason Comments in Electronic Media Room
Derek Mason Comments in “Big Room”
Derek Mason Transcript from “Big Room”
DEREK MASON: Good morning. For me, it’s great to
be in front of this group of distinguished media
personnel to be able to talk all things Vanderbilt
football.
As I take a look at, you know, our team, and where we
are, as soon as we finish the season, from December
until now, it’s been about the grind. It’s been about that
work to really get this program exactly where we want
to be. We encountered some early success in 2017.
We got off to a fast start. We struggled in the middle
as we got into conference play. Disappointed with how
we played in the middle of that stretch of games, but I
believe this, I believe you learn a lot about your team.
And I thought we finished the right way.
And so, in that, this team is now experienced. It was
galvanized by that experience a year ago. The fast
start, the struggle in the middle and then the finish, I
think that really propelled this group because they
haven’t forgotten any of that. As a matter of fact, I
know we went into the season with unmet, unkept
expectations.
And on the other side of that, what we realize is that we
got work to do. So December until now has been
about that grind. We continue to build this program in
key areas such as recruiting, staff enhancement,
strength and conditioning. I truly believe that in our
program, the staff enhancements made over the last
six months are going to take us from where we are to
where we want to be. I look at the seamless transition
of our new staff.
I believe that in that — in those staff transitions, I’ve
been able to provide continuity of scheme and
philosophy, and that’s important. Young men need the
opportunity to have success. And I believe the
coaches and the team culture I have been able to
provide over the last six months has been incredible.
It’s given this team confidence. For Commodore
Nation, I believe the best is yet to come. So we got to
get ready to strap it up. Starts in August. And I’m
ready to go. I hope my team is too. I know they are.
Factors for improvement in 2018 are as follows: I truly
believe Kyle Shurmur is one of the most improved
quarterbacks and one of the most dynamic passers in
this conference that people are not talking about.
That’s okay. I don’t need people to talk about Kyle
Shurmur. I know and I understand his pedigree, and I
have seen his development of when he was a
freshman and where he is now.
I’ve seen him with weapons, without weapons, with an
offensive line, and without an offensive line. His growth
and maturity is really beyond his years. He believes in
this team. This team believes in him. And in this
conference, it all starts with the quarterback position. If
the quarterback can play well, you got a chance for
success.
I also believe that now having an experienced offensive
line. For the first time in my tenure as head coach, we
have 12 offensive linemen upfront that can play for us.
It’s anchored by Justin Skule, Bruno Reagan, Egidio
DellaRipa, Saige Young, Devin Cochran. And those
guys behind those guys are guys that have experience
in this conference now.
For me to have the offensive line back intact means
that we can keep our quarterback upright. We can run
the football, and that’s important. It doesn’t matter who
is at running back. You have to have an offensive line
to be able to make sure you can control the line of
scrimmage in this conference.
Looking at where we are at running back depth, tight
end depth and skill position depth, all of the way on the
offensive side of the ball, I truly feel like this program
has been in a place that it hasn’t been before in my
tenure. Obviously, watching Vanderbilt play before I
got there, maybe you saw the depth, the ability of guys
like Jordan Matthews and what they brought to the
games. Zac Stacy, what he brought to the game, I
thought those guys were great catalysts, Casey
Hayward, great catalysts for Vanderbilt football.
Now I look at our depth and say it’s as good as it’s ever
been. Everybody been watching what’s on the surface
of our program, I believe what’s come behind these
seniors and what happened to our recruiting classes
really propelled this group. Guys like Jared Pinkney
had to grow up in front of the camera a little bit. Sam
Dobbs who has had to grow up a little bit at tight end.
Those guys are key targets for quarterback in 2018.
You talk about the receiver position, I think a guy who
has been overlooked is Kalija Lipscomb. You look at
his ability to play, he’s probably second in this
conference in plus 20 yard receptions. He’s explosive
and able to do it against everybody that we have been
able to play, and he showed up. From the time he
stepped on the campus to now, he’s a big-time player.
Some young guys are going to have to play alongside
him. I believe we’re bigger. We’re faster. We’re
stronger. And we’re more athletic in the offensive skill
positions.
I love the additions of this staff. I’m going to talk
quickly about staff additions starting with
Aaron Moorehead. He comes from Texas A&M. He
was at Virginia Tech before A&M. Before that, he was
Stanford University where Aaron and I had a chance to
be acquainted with one another. He understands me.
He developed guys like guys like Doug Baldwin, Ty
Montgomery, Christian Kirk, and now he gets to work
with Kalija Lipscomb and a host of young talent. And I
believe that that transition is as seamless as it gets.
Terrence Brown comes from the University of
Washington where he worked with corners at the
University of Washington over the last couple of years
and had tremendous success, but Terrence played for
me at Stanford. He’s been in this system. He’s played
with in system. And he understands it. And our
corners are benefitting right away.
I take a look at what I’ve been able to do with the
defensive coordinator. And I’m happy to relinquish the
title of defensive coordinator. For me, it’s important to
get the right guy. It has been almost three years in the
making, two years in the chase, but I finally got my guy,
Jason Tarver, who came from the San Francisco 49ers,
was with me at Stanford, same pedigree. We’re the
same guy, probably grew up in the same household.
We just look a little different.
With that being said, his energy, his passion, his
attention to detail, his coaching style very similar to
mine, but I believe his football I.Q. and what he’s been
able to do over the last four months in terms of
solidifying our defense has been the mastery that’s
Jason Tarver. I’m excited about that. I’m excited about
me getting back to the responsibilities of being head
coach, CEO of a program.
And if you want to know what that looks like, step right
outside and you look at the billboard of Kyle Shurmur
and that tells you exactly where we’re at. I’m CEO. I
am looking at everything that’s Vanderbilt football and
putting the right guy out front to showcase our
program.
Moving forward, I look at our defensive side of the ball
quickly, and I look at the extensive depth finally up
front. I’ve got nine 300-pounders up front. For the first
time in my tenure, I got guys that can play up front. I
got four rotation in a three-man front that I can wave
through, and that’s important.
Like I said, while everybody has been watching what is
on the surface everything, the only thing we lacked is
quality depth. And for the first time in my tenure, I have
it. I’m talking about guys Dare and Dayo Odeyingbo.
I’m talking about Louis Vecchio. I am talking about
Cameron Tidd. These guys are going to be key guys
for us in 2018. It starts up front. It’s a line-of-
scrimmage conference. I’m proud to have the depth,
quality depth we need.
Outside backer, everybody knows what Charles Wright
can do and what he’s done. I think it’s important that
Josh Smith who is now a senior, once a big-time recruit
coming out of high school, it’s his time. He’s played
football for us. And now it’s his time to play alongside
Charles. And as he plays well, Charles will play better.
So I’m excited about that.
Nobody’s talking about Joejuan Williams, and that’s
okay. Nobody is talking about LaDarius Wiley, that’s
okay. Joejuan Williams, when you look at the second
of half of the season, he shut down some big-time
receivers and played well. He’s probably the best
corner that I’ve coached outside of Richard Sherman.
He’s right along those lines. Again when you’re 6’3″,
extremely athletic and can cover, it means something.
Biggest thing he has to do in 2018 is touch some
footballs. Now when you move away man coverage
and mix up our coverages a little more, his eyes will be
able to make him right. I’m excited about what he can
do. LaDarius Wiley has probably as many tackles as
anybody in this conference at the safety position, and
has played as much football, but nobody is really
talking about him, but I am. This dude’s a monster.
He’s here today in probably the best-dressed suit here
for SEC Media Day. He came in here and out dressed
me, and I’m all about it. So LaDarius, captain’s up.
As I close out, our special teams unit is going to be
anchored by Shawn Mennega. Shawn has extensive
NFL and college experience. I’m glad he’s here. He’s
going to solidify exactly what we do. And as I’ve been
able to get away from defensive play calling and get to
the idea of what it takes to be a head coach, we spend
a lot of time together. So that’s great. We were able to
attract a grad transfer putter, Parker Thome, who
comes from Columbia University where he was
outstanding in the Ivy Leagues. Now he looks to bring
his talents to the SEC. And so we look for great things
out of him.
As I close this thing, what I’ll say is the recruiting has
been something that’s going under the radar, but I truly
believe this last class solidifies exactly what we want to
do. For us, they’re talented. They’re athletic. They’re
long. They’re explosive, the best recruiting class I’ve
had since I’ve been here. And I believe this class is
really going to provide the quality depth because when
you look at this conference, this conference is about
not what your ones can do. It’s about what your twos
and threes have to do.
For us, the depth is there. The athleticism is there.
The leadership is there. I believe it’s our time. We got
to close the gap. We didn’t finish the way we wanted
to, so there’s unkept expectations about where we are.
But here is the deal, you don’t get a chance to fix that,
okay, or change the record from a year ago. But what
you do get a chance to do is make it right. It’s not
about being right. It’s about getting it right.
In these last six months, it’s about getting it right.
Every day is about that grind. For me right now, it’s
about relentless, tough and intelligent, and that hasn’t
changed. That’s program philosophy. That is who we
are and what we do.
But for you media out there, and there’s been media
out there that spoke to the idea that our game is one to
be overlooked, watch out. I’m telling you right now, this
team is going to show up. We’re going to play well.
We are going come out the blocks and play the way we
need to, and we’re going to finish this the way we
should, the Vanderbilt way, Vanderbilt men salute.
With that being said, I’ll turn it over for question.
Q. Can you talk about what went into the decision
to relinquish the defensive coordinator role to
Jason Tarver and was he your first choice?
DEREK MASON: For me, it was never meant to be
long term. That process was about me going through
the idea of looking at coaches, figuring out exactly who
I can bring in. I really identified the target three years
ago, but he was under contract. And that was Jason
Tarver. There were only two guys in the country that I
would have relinquished this defense to, one is at
Stanford University, Lance Anderson, and the other is
Jason Tarver.
It’s taken me a minute to be able to get the guy I want,
but the idea of getting it right was exactly what I
needed to do. For me, I thought ’15 went well. ’16
went well. What you saw in ’17 was something that
sort of took on a life of its own. We started out well.
We didn’t play well. I take the full responsibility of how
we played in the middle, but here’s the deal, I got the
guy. I’m back to being exactly what I want to be and
need to be for my program. Now it is time to go, so
let’s ride.
Q. You referenced, and I did notice it, the billboard
across the street as an example what it means for
you to be CEO. Can you expound on that? What is
that connection?
DEREK MASON: For me, it’s about being able to see
your program holistically. In a place like Vanderbilt,
that’s exact actually what you have to do. You have to
be able to make sure you can forecast out, build your
program the right way. And I truly believe we’ve done
that through recruiting, through hiring the right staff.
It’s just taken a little time to get there.
I thought my chancellor, my A.D., those guys
understood. They were patient. They understood my
process. They understood exactly where we needed to
go. Now sitting in the crow’s nest and seeing exactly
what needs to go on, whether it’s staffing, resourcing,
facilities, marketing, product management, it’s all one
and the same for me right now.
I feel as good as I’ve ever felt. I feel like I’m ready to sit
right back in this position of being CEO, head coach,
head coach only, and it’s been fun. I’m having more
fun now than I’ve had in the last four years. These last
six months have been incredible. Now, like I said, it’s
time to go.
Q. The defensive line you referenced needed depth
there. You have size there. You have a lot of
bodies there.
DEREK MASON: Yeah.
Q. A lot of youth. There’s a lot of sophomores in
that bunch. What have you seen in practice and
spring practice or weight room or anything that
tells you that young depth will be able to step up
more than the depth from last year?
DEREK MASON: Well, it was about dog days in spring.
A lot of media don’t come over to our campus to watch
our practices. We’re not covered as much as other
teams, so people really don’t get a chance to see who
we are and what we do. I know, Adam, for you, you
had the opportunity to come over and see who we are.
It was great to get Rutger Reitmaier back to Nashville.
He went to the University of Oregon, and he came
back. With that, along with guys like Josiah Sao,
Darion DeBrossard, we were able to go back to dog
days. Practices were tough. I had to go back to
referencing one of my old defensive line coaches, the
old defensive line coach at Stanford, and really
spending some time with our d-line coach.
Talking about the tenacity, the nastiness, the
relentlessness that you have to practice with in order to
play well. It’s got to be about competition. We’ve had
more competition this spring. This team is different not
just because I say it’s so. It’s different because this
team is really player lead.
When we got between the lines, I truly believe that
these guys, okay, these guys, whether it’s Dare,
whether it is Dayo, whether it is a guy like Charles
Wright, these guys took the ownership. This will be the
first time I’ve had a group of guys step up and not be
about Coach Mason getting out front and having to
make a speech or some type of announcement to how
we play. The standard is theirs.
I think these guys have heard it enough. We practice
hard. We made it extremely tough on these guys. And
really, they’ve taken to it. If they were going to bite as a
young pup, then they are going to bite as a big dog.
Right now, some of these guys have grown from young
pups to working their way to big dog status. So let’s
go.
Q. You’re going to have a pretty early tough test
early on with the trip to South Bend. How are you
preparing your players for a trip to a location like
that against a likely top-15 team?
DEREK MASON: Yeah. We play in the SEC. I don’t
worry about going to South Bend. Right now, I am
worried about MTSU. I looked at how we started last
year, and the blueprint is there.
If you want to be successful, stay in the moment.
That’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re staying in the
moment. We’re about Notre Dame when that game
comes. Right now, it’s about MTSU. It’s about going to
camp. It’s about solidifying that depth. It’s about
making sure when we harden this team enough that
when adversity comes, this team knows how to handle
it.
Q. You’re getting ready to go into your fifth year at
Vande. I think that puts you fourth on the totum
pole of being the longest tenured at your school at
the SEC. What do you think about that and what
do you think about six coaches being at new
schools this season? That’s a pretty big turnover.
DEREK MASON: Yeah. I think congratulations to
those coaches who now are sitting in seats at schools.
I know Dan left Mississippi State and went to Florida,
but I congratulate all those guys. They are all
deserving of it. And so that’s great.
For me, being tenured, you know what, it’s going fast.
Again, I came into this really an unseasoned head
coach who really had to take the helm of the program
and figure out exactly where to go and what to do. For
me, I truly believe time, adversity, a little bit of success
and really management of a program has made me a
better coach, a better man, a better person that stands
before you.
With that being said, I’m excited about year five. I’m
back where I started. I’m a head coach again, head
coach only. So that’s fun for me. That’s exciting for
me. I believe my vision now is much different than it
was, you know, five years ago when I stepped into this
program. So now I’m ready to coach. Our guys are
ready to play. Like I said, it is senior led, not coach led
when you get between the white lines, so let’s ride.
Q. Not to drudge up a bad memory, but the week of
the Alabama game, and the aftermath last year, can
you describe just kind of the emotional highs and
lows of that week and how much it took kind of the
wind out of the sails of your team for a while?
DEREK MASON: Yeah. I think it goes back a little bit
before that game. I think it was the physicality of the
Kansas State game, if you want to be honest. When
you talk about our roster, and where we’re at, we don’t
look like most teams in the SEC. Okay? We don’t
have 135, 145 when school starts. We’ve got 103,
104.
So with that being said, we tried to manage the roster.
I thought our guys played a hard-fought game versus
Kansas State. That was great. You play against a
good Alabama team that just beats the breaks off you,
and that’s okay. I mean, you learn a lot. I think for me
as a head coach, being a defensive coordinator, I
probably got in my feelings a little bit and thought my
team needed to be harder, and we needed to work that
team harder. We really didn’t. A loss is a loss. You
can’t let one become two become three become four in
this conference. And that’s what I did. That is me
being too much of a boots on the ground guy and not
seeing it from a bird’s eye view.
I feel like I cost our guys because we went into the
season last year with high expectations. We started
the right way. We let one become two become three
become four. That’s on me. Our guys got to play
better. I got to do a better job coaching. That’s why I
stepped back from being coordinator. I’m head coach.
I can see everything clearly now. I believe we do have
more depth. And the idea of playing well is what is on
these guys’ minds. They are hardened. They got
galvanized by that stretch of football. It’s not
necessarily how you start. It’s not you how play the
middle of the schedule. It’s really how you finish. They
finish the right way. And they have not forgotten the
memory. You won’t let them. I won’t let them.
Q. You got a team on your schedule this year that
they haven’t played in many years in Arkansas. I
wonder if you’ve crossed paths with Chad Morris at
all in the years and if you’ve done any event
scouting on Arkansas and what you’ve come
across?
DEREK MASON: I’ve done some advanced scouting. I
truly believe Chad coming from SMU, his offense is
exciting to watch. Most coaches do summer scouts
and get through exactly what they need to get through
on teams they haven’t seen before so they can gather
that information before you get to the season so you
have a pretty good idea coming into game week of
exactly what you’re getting into.
For me, I’ll acquiesce to that game when it comes. I’m
really not concerned with Arkansas and Coach Morris.
I wish him well. I got to be more concerned about
MTSU and starting fast and playing well game one and
then moving to Nevada and moving towards Notre
Dame. I’m staying in my lane right now, truly
understand that, and that’s where I need to be. Thank
you.
Q. Coach, last year you had the SEC East champ
win the conference title for the first time since
2008. What does that say, if anything, about the
state of competitiveness in your division and have
you seen a change or increase in your time at
Vande?
DEREK MASON: As the West has always been
powerful. I truly believe that the coaching, the level of
players, level of play has risen all across the SEC.
When you talk about the East, Will Muschamp has
been able to solidify South Carolina. You look at what’s
happening in Florida with Dan Mullen, a proven winner.
Look what’s happening in Knoxville,
Jeremy Pruitt, he’s a seasoned veteran. He’s going to
do a great job at the University of Tennessee.
I believe that all of these programs are rising, you
know? These programs have good coaches. They
have extremely good players. And right now, the SEC
is moving exactly where people said it would be and
where it would go.
I think every Saturday, it’s about any given Saturday.
You got to show up. You got to play big. We have had
some highs and some lows in our program, but the
idea of being able to compete across every program is
everybody’s standard. They want to play. They want to
win. They want to have success. And right now, I think
the SEC is really as strong as anybody else’s
conference talked about them.
Q. Ralph Webb meant so much to your program
and was so productive throughout his four years.
Khari Blasingame has made plays for you in the
past. He’s from near my community in New Market,
Alabama. Talk about your expectations for him this
year and also how — I can’t talk about specific
names, but how you’re kind of casting that net
toward the Madison County area in recruiting now
as well?
DEREK MASON: Yeah. I think what it comes down to,
you have to have — I mean, you can’t be in the state of
Tennessee and border Alabama and not dip down in
Alabama and get talent. Some of our most prestigious
players and best athletes have come out of that state.
With that being said, that’s exactly what we’ve done. In
terms of Khari, Khari is in a group or with a group of
guys that I believe are as dynamic as we’ve had since
we’ve been here. Ralph Webb had a tremendous
career. I think the best is yet to come. Ke’Shawn
Vaughn, a name a lot of people don’t know about.
Ke’Shawn Vaughn is dynamic. Jamauri Wakefield out
of Jacksonville, Florida, dynamic. Josh Crawford out of
Alabama, dynamic.
I think we have more depth at the tailback position than
we’ve ever had. It’s not just about Khari. It’s about all
of these guys having to play well. But with the
offensive line being better, our run game is going to get
off to a fast start. And I believe it’s going to help the
pass game. We are going to be the type of offensive
football team that is going to be exciting to watch,
especially with the running backs and tight ends. With
Khari leading that group, we truly believe we’ll have
success.
Q. I was curious if you had any thoughts on what
Larry Fedora said about football potentially being
under attack as a defensive minded coach?
DEREK MASON: For me, I worry about my team. I
worry about where I’m at. Obviously, my SID talks to
me about hot-button topics. For me, I look at Coach
Fedora and everybody’s got a right to an opinion. I
stay in my lane. I understand what my team needs.
I feel like right now, football is the greatest game going.
So for me, we are going to protect our student-athletes.
We’re going to make sure we can do whatever we can
to ensure their safety. That’s part of our job as head
coaches, part of the NCAA’s job. Part of institutions
jobs is to make sure our players are safe, and we’re
doing that. With that being said, I don’t have much
commentary on it.
Q. Two questions; one, just following up on
Muschamp, what do you feel like the biggest thing
he’s done to getS outh Carolina going? And two, the Redshirt Rule,
how do you plan to utilize it and what do you think
about it?
DEREK MASON: Will Muschamp recruiting. I truly
believe he’s done an excellent job recruiting. It’s about
players. This conference is littered with good coaches,
littered with good coaches. You have to have good
players. He’s developed talent. I’ll give him a lot of
credit.
Overall — what was the second part of that question?
Q. Redshirt?
DEREK MASON: Yeah, Redshirt Rule, I believe the
Redshirt Rule is a rule that’s been a long time in the
making. And I thought it was archaic. And now, I truly
believe it gives those guys who are ready to play an
opportunity to play early.
For those guys now, especially with the departure of
good players on the back end of the season, I truly
believe it gives us an opportunity to get a young man
acclimated to school, acclimated to the game of
football, acclimated to the speed of the game. And
then when he’s ready to play, you can get him ready to
play towards the end of the season, get him valuable
experience to take him into year two. I think it’s been a
long time in the making. It’s a great rule. We got it
right. The NCAA got it right. Great for college football.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time this
morning, Coach.
DEREK MASON: Thank you.
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