Derek Mason was focused on an NFL job. How MTSU football changed his mind and hired him as coach
Derek Mason said he thought there would be opportunities to become a coach again.
After only a year away, Mason was right. On Wednesday, he was introduced as the new coach of Middle Tennessee State football.
"When the opportunity (with MTSU) came, I thought other opportunities would come this year. ... I didn't think MTSU would be the only opportunity," said Mason, 54, who was coach at Vanderbilt from 2014 until he was fired eight games into the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season. "I just thought MTSU would be the right opportunity."
Mason received a five-year contract that will pay him a base salary of $1 million per season. At his disposal will be a salary pool of $1.7M per season to hire a coaching staff.
Why was MTSU the right opportunity for Mason?
He cited the growth of the area and opportunity for recruiting among other factors.
"It felt right to me," said Mason, who spent 2021 (Auburn) and 2022 (Oklahoma State) as a defensive coordinator. "I've been here in Tennessee for 10 years. Tennessee is a place that has grown, especially in Middle Tennessee. From (Nashville) to (Murfreesboro), it's all grown.
"I'm a blue collar guy. I've coached at some upper echelon type schools (academically), and this is an upper academic school."
He also believes he can win at MTSU, which was a big selling point. Citing unbeaten Liberty, a fellow Conference USA member, he said MTSU can be a team that can go unbeaten and compete for a College Football Playoff berth.
"This group can win. ... I believe that," Mason said. "I'm not going to make any promises on when that's going to happen, but it's going to happen."
Mason spent a year as a color analyst on the SEC Network following a year each as defensive coordinator at Auburn (2021) and Oklahoma State (2022). Mason wasn't hesitant about his desire to get back into coaching. But he wasn't sure going back to college was going to be his next path.
"Really, it was going to take a lot (to become a college head coach)," said Mason, who went 27-55 (10-46 in the SEC) during his seven seasons at Vanderbilt, his only college head coaching job. "Me and my wife (LeighAnn) talked about it ... coordinator jobs, NFL opportunities. I really saw myself going back to the NFL. That's where my focus was. It was coordinating in the NFL.
"But there was just something about this job."
Mason spent three seasons in the NFL as assistant defensive backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings (2007-09).
Derek Mason said MTSU AD, president gave specifics that sold him on job
Mason said negotiations with MTSU "heated up" over the past 72 hours. The selling job school President Sidney McPhee and athletic director Chris Massaro did worked, he said.
"Really, when you lay out the vision and you can be very clear about particular questions asked ... I wanted to know specifics and they gave me detailed specifics," Mason said. "That's important. That leads to the speed of trust. Speed of trust matters. I trust them completely. I think they trust me. Now it's time to get to work."
Mason's hiring came just over a week after the university fired Rick Stockstill, who had coached the Blue Raiders for the past 18 seasons.
Mason will be only MTSU's fourth football coach in the past 44 years. Boots Donnelly (1979-98) and Andy McCollum (1999-2005) preceded Stockstill.
The Blue Raiders, who struggled to a 4-8 record (3-5 CUSA) in 2023, ended the season with a 23-20 loss at Sam Houston State, a game in which a fight broke out following the final play.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Derek Mason: Middle Tennessee State football coach was focused on NFL
