Derek Mason
Derek Mason went 36–76 as a head coach, 2014–2026, at Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 2–3); by them his record is 35–76. Share
- Record
- 36–76 career
- Seasons
- 10
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Sep 29, 1969
- Best season
- 2026 3–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Vanderbilt | 3–9 | 7th | |||
| 2015 | Vanderbilt | 4–8 | T–4th | |||
| 2016 | Vanderbilt | 6–7 | T–5th | Independence Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Vanderbilt | 5–7 | 6th | |||
| 2018 | Vanderbilt | 6–7 | 6th | Texas Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Vanderbilt | 3–9 | 7th | |||
| 2020 | Vanderbilt coached eight of nine games | 0–8 | ||||
| 2021–23: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | 3–9 | T–8th | |||
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | 3–9 | T–9th | |||
| 2026 | Middle Tennessee | 3–3 (Wikipedia: 2–3) | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 27 | 3–24 | 11% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 0–13 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 30 | 7–23 | 23% |
| Conference games | 74 | 15–59 | 20% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 38 | 18–20 | 47% |
| At home | 60 | 27–33 | 45% |
| On the road | 49 | 9–40 | 18% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 27 | 18–9 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 85 | 18–67 | 21% |
His own 112 games on file, 2014–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Stoops 2014–2020 | 1–6 | Kentucky | 7 | |
| Will Muschamp 2014–2020 | 0–6 | Florida, South Carolina | 6 | |
| Rick Stockstill 2015–2018 | 4–0 | Middle Tennessee | 4 | |
| Barry Odom 2016–2019 | 1–3 | Missouri | 4 | |
| Kirby Smart 2016–2019 | 1–3 | Georgia | 4 | |
| Dan Mullen 2014–2020 | 0–4 | Mississippi State, Florida | 4 | |
| Butch Jones 2014–2016 | 1–2 | Tennessee | 3 | |
| Hugh Freeze 2014–2016 | 1–2 | Ole Miss | 3 | |
| Jeff Brohm 2015–2019 | 1–2 | Western Kentucky, Purdue | 3 | |
| Matt Luke 2017–2019 | 1–2 | Ole Miss | 3 |
Derek Mason’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Ole Missseries | 8 | 2–6 |
| Missouriseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| Kentuckyseries | 7 | 1–6 |
| Floridaseries | 7 | 0–7 |
| South Carolinaseries | 7 | 0–7 |
| Tennesseeseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Georgiaseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 5 | 2–3 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Mesa (AZ) | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1995–96 | Weber State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1997–98 | Idaho State | Running backs coach | |
| 1999–2001 | Bucknell | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2002 | Utah | Wide receivers and special teams coach | |
| 2003 | Saint Mary’s | Assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator | |
| 2004 | New Mexico State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2005–06 | Ohio | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2007–09 | Minnesota Vikings NFL | Assistant defensive backs | |
| 2010 | Stanford | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2011 | Stanford | Assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2012–13 | Stanford | Assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 2014–20 | Vanderbilt | Head coach | |
| 2021 | Auburn | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2022 | Oklahoma State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2024–present | Middle Tennessee | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Dave ArslanianWeber State
- Tom GaddBucknell
- Ron McBrideUtah
- Vincent WhiteSaint Mary’s
- Tony SamuelNew Mexico State
- Frank SolichOhio
- Brad ChildressMinnesota Vikings
- Jim HarbaughStanford
- David ShawStanford
- Bryan HarsinAuburn
- Mike GundyOklahoma State
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dave KotulskiBucknell
- Frank MaileUtah State
- Karl DorrellUCLA, Colorado
- Jeff GenykEastern Michigan
- Peter RossomandoCharlotte, New Haven, Central Connecticut, Lamar
- Ted RoofDuke
- Todd FitchVanderbilt
Worked under (11)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Arslanian | Weber State | 1995–96 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Tom Gadd | Bucknell | 1999–2001 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Ron McBride | Utah | 2002 | Wide receivers and special teams coach | |
| Vincent White | Saint Mary’s | 2003 | Assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator | |
| Tony Samuel | New Mexico State | 2004 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Frank Solich | Ohio | 2005–06 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Brad Childress | Minnesota Vikings NFL | 2007–09 | Assistant defensive backs | |
| Jim Harbaugh | Stanford | 2010 | Defensive backs coach | |
| David Shaw | Stanford | 2011–13 | 2011: assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2012–13: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Bryan Harsin | Auburn | 2021 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State | 2022 | Defensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Kotulski | Vanderbilt, 2014: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | Bucknell | |
| Frank Maile | Vanderbilt, 2014–15: defensive line coach | Utah State | |
| Karl Dorrell | Vanderbilt, 2014: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | UCLA, Colorado | |
| Jeff Genyk | Vanderbilt, 2016–17: special teams and running backs coach | Eastern Michigan | |
| Peter Rossomando | Vanderbilt, 2020: offensive line coach | Charlotte, New Haven, Central Connecticut, Lamar | |
| Ted Roof | Vanderbilt, 2020: defensive coordinator | Duke | |
| Todd Fitch | Vanderbilt, 2020: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Vanderbilt |
Other assistants under him (13)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Marve | Vanderbilt, 2014: defensive quality control coach; 2015: graduate assistant; 2016–18: inside linebackers coach | |
| Gerry Gdowski | Vanderbilt, 2014–15: tight ends coach; 2016–18: quarterbacks coach; 2019: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Andy Ludwig | Vanderbilt, 2015: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2016–17: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; 2018: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Cortez Hankton | Vanderbilt, 2015–17: wide receivers coach | |
| Jarren Horton | Vanderbilt, 2015: defensive analytics assistant; 2017: defensive analyst | |
| C. J. Ah You | Vanderbilt, 2016–18: defensive line coach | |
| Osia Lewis | Vanderbilt, 2016–20: outside linebackers coach | |
| Bret Ingalls | Vanderbilt, 2018–20: senior offensive assistant | |
| Jason Tarver | Vanderbilt, 2018–19: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Aaron Henry | Vanderbilt, 2020: cornerbacks coach | |
| Bodie Reeder | Middle Tennessee, 2024–25: offensive coordinator | |
| Brian Stewart | Middle Tennessee, 2024–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Anthony Scelfo | Middle Tennessee, 2026: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Mason’s teams went for it on 21% of fourth downs and on 37% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 54% of plays and took 27.1 seconds a play, 2014–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 12 g | Vanderbilt | 20 of 100 20% | 39% | 52% | 28.0 | −0.17 | |
| 2015 12 g | Vanderbilt | 18 of 118 15% | 25% | 47% | 25.9 | −0.17 | |
| 2016 13 g | Vanderbilt | 17 of 107 16% | 33% | 48% | 27.3 | −0.01 | |
| 2017 12 g | Vanderbilt | 20 of 93 22% | 39% | 56% | 27.8 | +0.04 | |
| 2018 13 g | Vanderbilt | 22 of 92 24% | 34% | 52% | 27.9 | +0.09 | |
| 2019 12 g | Vanderbilt | 21 of 109 19% | 31% | 55% | 27.8 | −0.14 | |
| 2020 8 g | Vanderbilt | 19 of 72 26% | 32% | 50% | 25.1 | −0.07 | |
| 2024 12 g | Middle Tennessee | 27 of 92 29% | 50% | 61% | 27.8 | −0.01 | |
| 2025 12 g | Middle Tennessee | 26 of 106 25% | 45% | 65% | 24.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2026 6 g | Middle Tennessee | 9 of 45 20% | 47% | 58% | 28.5 | +0.07 | |
| All 112 g | 199 of 934 21% | 37% | 54% | 27.1 | −0.04 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.