While the school has not yet officially announced it, Vanderbilt has its new head football coach in place.
John Ingram, a Vandy booster and search committee member, confirmed to Jeff Lockridge of The Tennessean that Derek Mason has been hired as James Franklin‘s replacement with the Commodores. Said Ingram of the hiring of Stanford’s defensive coordinator, “Yes sir! ... I am very excited.”
Ingram’s confirmation comes a few hours after reports first surfaced that Vandy was set to hire the long-time assistant.
A formal announcement is expected later today, with an introductory press conference likely to be held Saturday morning.
Prior to Mason’s second “interview” with Vandy officials -- via Skype, incidentally -- the coach told the paper that he was one of two finalists for the job. Who the other finalist was wasn’t divulged.
With Franklin ransacking Vandy’s 2014 recruiting class, Mason said, if he were hired, Job One would be to hit the recruiting trail immediately to shore up a wobbly and shaky class.
“It’s got to be almost immediate,” Mason told Lockridge prior to being offered and accepting the job. “It’s got to be something that is there is no break, there is no time period. You’re going to have to go 24 hours a day for the next two weeks to make sure you can get in homes and really solidify people’s trust and respect just in terms of sending their child to your program.”
This will be the first head-coaching job of Mason’s 20-year career. He’s spent the past four seasons at Stanford, three of them as the Cardinal’s coordinator.