Keep on dreaming
Nine fine, but coach eyes more
Eighth in a series of articles previewing SEC football teams going into the 2014 season.
FAYETTEVILLE — The previous eight coaches who took over Vanderbilt’s football program prior to Derek Mason inherited teams coming off losing seasons, including six seasons with two or fewer victories.
There was nowhere for the Commodores to go but up. Way up.
Mason, who left his job as Stanford’s defensive coordinator to replace James Franklin as the Commodores’ coach, faces a different challenge. Franklin led Vanderbilt to three consecutive bowl appearances, including backto-back 9-4 seasons, before moving on to Penn State.
Instead of trying to build a team that can win some SEC games and go to a bowl, Mason is looking to surpass what Franklin did and lead the Commodores to their first SEC championship in football.
Vanderbilt, a charter member of the SEC when it
was formed in 1933, has never finished higher than fourth in the overall conference race or higher than a tie for third in the SEC East since divisional play started in 1992.
Despite the Commodores’ recent success, Vanderbilt is the only one of the SEC’s 14 schools not to have at least one player voted onto the three preseason all-conference teams announced last week at SEC media days.
But Mason isn’t talking about having to rebuild with a team that returns 12 starters. He said now is the time for Vanderbilt to compete to win the East and play in Atlanta for the conference title.
“We have to move past the idea of playing for nine wins,” Mason said. “Nine wins, it’s really exceptional. But at the end of the day, why have nine when you can have 10? Why settle for 10 when you can have 11?
“That’s the way I think. That’s the way I wake up. That’s the way I want my team to be. Dream big, you can accomplish big things. Dream small, you fall short.”
The Commodores are embracing Mason’s approach.
“What I love about him is that his vision is winning the SEC title,” sophomore defensive end Adam Butler said. “That’s the next step we need to take as a program.”
Junior safety Andrew Williamson said Mason’s confidence carries over to the players.
“It makes us hungry to want to keep doing better and reach that bar,” he said.
Butler said it doesn’t matter that Vanderbilt has never won an SEC championship.
“We had never been to this many bowl games in a row until the last three years,” he said. “There are a lot of things that hadn’t happened here, but change is coming now.
“That’s what Coach Mason’s here to do, and that’s what we’re all in for.”
Sophomore quarterback Patton Robinette started three games last season — including a 41-24 victory over Houston in the BBVA Compass Bowl — and passed for 642 yards, but he’ll have competition for the No. 1 job in fall camp from redshirt freshman Johnny McCrary and senior Stephen Rivers, a transfer from LSU.
“I’m not going to be pressed into naming a quarterback,” Mason said. “We’ll go through the process. We have plenty of evaluation time to make the right decision.”
Junior tailbacks Jerron Seymour (716 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns last season) and Brian Kimbrow (341 yards) return to help the running game, but Vanderbilt will need to find a new play-maker at receiver with the loss of Jordan Matthews.
Junior tight end Steven Scheu figures to be more involved in the passing game based on the Stanford scheme being implemented under new offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell.
Vanderbilt is making the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense Mason used at Stanford to help the Cardinal win backto-back Pacific-12 Conference championships.
“We talked to our young men about understanding what we do, asking questions,” Mason said. “They’re smart, so they can make adjustments.”
Mason said the Commodores will rely heavily on their freshman class.
“We don’t believe in redshirting at Vanderbilt,” he said. “Out of that class of 22, we’ll probably have 17 guys that will step on the field and play at some point this season.”
After finishing ranked among the top 25 in the national polls the past two seasons, the Commodores are picked to finish sixth in the SEC East in most preseason polls.
“We’re used to being the underdog,” Butler said. “But at some point in time, we’re going to make people realize, ‘OK, this is a good football team and we need to start respecting them.’ ”
Up next: Georgia