Auburn Football: How will the Bryan Harsin era begin?

How will Derek Mason help reshape the Auburn defense?

Coach Harsin hired former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason to run Auburn’s defense, and he brings a solid track record to the job.

While he was a defensive coordinator at Stanford, he helped coach some of the best defenses in school history, including setting the single-season sack record of 57 in 2012.

At Vandy, he coached All-American linebacker Zach Cunningham, who would go on to have 156 solo tackles in his career with the Commodores and was a second-round selection of the Houston Texans in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Tom Green of AL.com had this to say about Mason:

"“With his 3-4 scheme predicated on a two-gap system that’s aimed at slowing down up-tempo spread offenses, Mason excelled at Stanford, where his defenses were best known for shutting down Oregon’s high-powered offenses. In 2013, when Oregon was third in the nation at 45.5 points per game, Stanford limited the Ducks to just 20 points in a six-point Cardinal win.”"

This year, Auburn football will have two of its leading tacklers back on defense in Zakoby McClain and Owen Pappoe. Both had 113 and 93 total tackles respectively in 2020.

With other talented players such as Smoke Monday returning and incoming freshman Lee Hunter, a former four-star recruit, Auburn could have one of the more underrated defenses in the SEC this season.