10 college football coaches who could be out of a job after the 2020 season

Derek Mason, Vanderbilt Commodores

Record: 27-47 in 6 seasons

It’s hard to establish a winning program at Vanderbilt with limited resources compared to other SEC programs like Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Commodores have shown they can win some games and establish a successful season in the early 2010s. After two nine-win seasons in 2012 and 2013, head coach James Franklin decided to go for the same coaching position at Penn State.

The program needed to find a well-minded coach with much experience as a leader of a top program. The Commodores hired former Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason to bring that same level of intensity and success to an SEC program that starved for consistency.

In his seven seasons with Mason as head coach, the Commodores have never accumulated a record better than a 6-7 twice. The Commodores have accounted for a 27-47 record overall with a terrible 10-38 record in SEC play. Even for a lower-tier SEC program, this kind of results cannot be accepted for long especially after two great seasons after Franklin.

The Commodores after coming off a 3-9 record last season with their lone SEC win being an upset at home over Missouri. They were ranked in the bottom-20 in every offensive category last season. This season, they are without their top three offensive skilled playmakers and their quarterback.

Vanderbilt projects to have another 3-9 record this season and no wins in the SEC. If Mason wants to survive another season as head coach, he will need to solve the offensive problems on the team before their first game against Mercer in Week 1.