Vanderbilt Football: What happened to the Commodores' momentum?

Once upon a time, Vanderbilt football broke through the barrier of constantly losing and became a respectable football team, then James Franklin left for Penn State and all hell broke loose in Nashville.

As the story goes, Vanderbilt saw much success in James Franklin’s three-year tenure in Nashville, but when their dream ended last January, Commodore fans still had hope that the dream would continue.

The James Franklin era of Vanderbilt football, later to be called the “Golden years of Vanderbilt football”, ended last season when Franklin accepted the head coaching position at Penn State, a school that he admired as a child growing up in Pennsylvania.

The Golden Years brought much joy to Commodore fans as they experienced unheard of success in Nashville, but deep down, Commodore fans knew their dream wasn’t going to last forever.

Franklin’s Commodores were able to defeat in-state rival Tennessee twice in Franklin’s three-year tenure, while also making three bowl appearances, winning two of them. Franklin knew how to get the best from his players, and in his first season, he turned a team who had won two games the year prior to a bowl team the next.

The accolades continue. In 2013, Franklin’s Commodores were able to defeat Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee in the same season for the first time in school history.

Franklin led Vanderbilt to back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2012 & 2013, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in Commodore football history. His team bought in. The University bought in, and his fans bought in. Vanderbilt football was in the hands of Franklin.

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Then, Franklin left and took

a few

all the recruits with him.

Vanderbilt acted quickly by hiring one of the best defensive coordinators in college football, Derek Mason who had tremendous success running the Stanford defense.

When Mason arrived on campus, Commodore fans bought in…again. We were still a little hurt by the departure of Franklin, but we liked Mason and believed in him. We were cautiously optimistic, just as we had been the previous three years.

Mason lost many fans when his team was defeated by Temple in the opener, 37-7, the worst loss in Commodore history. I was at that game. I have never seen a more defeated, pathetic team in my life, and I’m a Vanderbilt fan. We somehow managed to use three different quarterbacks that day, and none of them were successful.

To make matters worse, the game was delayed a couple of hours by rain, and the crowd was depleted. I stayed at Vanderbilt Stadium until about two in the morning in awe. I was dumbfounded.

Aug 28, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Temple Owls linebacker

Nate Smith

(35) celebrates after a win against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium. Temple won 37-7. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

It was shocking. How could we go from back-to-back nine win seasons to this, losing 37-7 to Temple? As a result, the angry mob was formed, and Mason’s Commodores lost a lot of support.

Somehow, I still had confidence we could contend. I don’t know why, but I still had faith that it was just a fluke or something. I mean, we only lost by thirty. Maybe Temple is really good this year, I thought. Temple failed to make a bowl game last season.

Vanderbilt quickly became the mockery of college football once again, and the season went downhill from there. As the season continued, a few players were kicked off the team, some just quit, and fans were all blaming Mason for the team’s shortcomings. Mason quit too, it seemed.

On a few occasions throughout the season, we would be losing by a slim amount with a reasonable amount of time left in the game, and often, we punted. We forfeited, you could say. We defaulted.

What happened? How in the world did our dream end so quickly and abruptly? We understood that Franklin’s departure would hurt a bit, but nothing like this.

Some attributed their lack of success to the play-calling. It was bad, but there was no effort being put forth. You could have had the best coordinator in the country last season calling plays, and the team still would’ve looked like hot garbage.

So what was the problem? If it wasn’t the play calling, what was it? The team hadn’t bought in.

See, when Mason was hired, most fans immediately bought in because he was selling championships, calling Vanderbilt his “dream job”. He was different than Franklin, and we quickly jumped on his bandwagon without hesitation.

Unfortunately, when a coach leaves, a lot of players don’t buy into what the new coach is selling. Franklin brought a lot of talented recruits to Vanderbilt, and some of those guys committed to him, not the University. That’s why you saw so many players literally quitting the team last season. They had enough.

This happens anytime a coach leaves a school, especially when a coach leaves in the midst of such controversy.

Franklin’s departure from Vanderbilt wasn’t the cleanest breakup. After Vanderbilt’s win in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Franklin disappeared, it seemed, and after much discussion about him being linked to a few head coaching jobs, Commodore fans knew the end was coming.

This happened after every season Franklin was at Vandy. We’d play in our bowl game. Franklin would be talked about, and we would end it all by offering him a new contract. In fact, prior to Vanderbilt’s bowl game in 2012, Franklin was asked why he didn’t entertain any offers that off-season, and he said “I would feel like a complete scumbag if I left Vanderbilt”.

Last off-season was different. Franklin never came out and lied to the public; he never signed a new contract. He was quiet, and no one knew what he was doing, including Vanderbilt athletic director, David Williams. Franklin was interviewing, and we all knew it.

For me, I knew the Franklin-era was over when Bill O’Brien left Penn State for the Houston Texans. Franklin’s a Pennsylvania guy, and it just made sense.

However, this strung out a week or two, and by the middle of January, Franklin told the team he was leaving. The team had already heard through reports and such, but Franklin came back to Vanderbilt to tell them all goodbye. He was met by hundreds of Commodore fans, who surrounded Star Walk, outside the McGuigan Center, to cheer on their boys, assuring them that the fans weren’t going anywhere.

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We did the same when Mason was hired. I remember hundreds of fans gathered around Star Walk early in the morning to get a glimpse of Mason as he walked into his opening press conference. I was the first one to shake Mason’s hand that day, shortly after he left his ride, and I welcomed him to Vanderbilt.

I still would like to believe that Mason can win games at Vanderbilt. I mean, why not? He promoted himself to defensive coordinator. He hired one of the best offensive coordinators available in Andy Ludwig, and he went out and hired a new strength and conditioning coordinator. He’s making necessary changes. Maybe it’ll just take time?

This brings the question, could Franklin have done better last season? Absolutely, but when he left, he took the team’s confidence (and players) with him, and there weren’t many coaches in college football that would have succeeded with last year’s team, especially after Franklin’s departure.

Vanderbilt was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, teams in college football last season, and without a competitive quarterback, it would have been difficult for anybody to win there, not just Mason. This season will hopefully be different, but with virtually the same quarterbacks competing for the starting job, it will take much improvement, or a miracle for the Commodores to improve on last season’s win total.

Mason isn’t a bad coach; he’s just a scapegoat. The Commodores are a very young and inexperienced team, and with much young talent on the roster, perhaps there are greener pastures ahead in Nashville.

Maybe Commodore fans should give Mason a break. I mean, sure, Franklin turned a two win team into a six win team in only one year, but he had Jordan Matthews, Zac Stacy, Jordan Rodgers, and many more talented players on both sides of the ball. Who did Mason have last season? Exactly.

Vanderbilt football hit its ceiling a few years ago when the Commodores won nine games in back-to-back seasons, and if all goes well, maybe Mason will have the Commodores bidding for bowl games in 2016 and beyond.

So relax, Commodore fans, the future isn’t incredibly bright, but the road ahead seems tolerable. I mean, we put up with the ‘Dores for this long, right?

Next: 10 Dumbest Coaching Hires of the Past 10 Years

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Vanderbilt Football: What happened to the Commodores’ momentum?

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