SEC will not hand out punishment for heated Dan Mullen-Derek Mason confrontation
There will be no punishment handed out by the SEC for a heated incident that occurred during Saturday’s Florida-Vanderbilt game involving UF coach Dan Mullen and Vandy coach Derek Mason.
Florida linebacker James Houston was ejected for targeting following a vicious hit on Vanderbilt’s Dare Odeyingbo near the Florida sideline during a late first half punt return. The hit left Odeyingbo down on the field, prompting Mason to leave the opposite sideline to check on his injured player.
While the medical staff checked on Odeyingbo, Mason, with defensive line coach C.J. Ah You at his side, got into a shouting match with Mullen and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
Dan Mullen and Todd Grantham in a shouting match with Derek Mason. pic.twitter.com/xfIxyUtiNJ
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) October 13, 2018
As you can see in the clip above, both Mullen and Grantham had to be held back and the confrontation nearly started an all-out brawl. Mason turned away to go back to his sideline only to be greeted by many of his players running out onto the field, including Dayo Odeyingbo, Dare’s younger brother.
Mason held his players back and the situation de-escalated.
After a targeting call, things got chippy in the Florida/Vanderbilt game 👀 pic.twitter.com/UJBna9MKSh
— ESPN (@espn) October 13, 2018
Unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were assessed to both teams. An SEC spokesman told The Tennessean that the situation was handled appropriately by the officiating crew:
“Unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were appropriately administered on the field by the officials,” SEC spokesman Herb Vincent said in a statement. “Any discussion about decorum among the coaches will be handled privately between the conference office and the participating institutions. Both coaches appeared to put this issue behind them in their post-game midfield meeting and post-game comments.”
While it was clearly a heated moment, there were evidently no hard feelings between Mason and Mullen after the game. The two hugged it out after the final whistle.
All good. pic.twitter.com/AeuhqvjxoG
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) October 13, 2018
“Derek’s a really close friend of mine,” Mullen said after the game, which Florida won 37-27. “Our sideline, we got to make sure we’re cleaner in that situation. I’m sure he probably thinks the same thing. There’s nothing carrying over from that and nothing to get into publicly.”
Added Mason: “I talked to Dan at the end of the ballgame. That was just a matter of a player is down and their player from the sideline said something directed at me and I say something back and Dan gets mad. That’s how it started. The coaches are extremely competitive. I’ve got a lot of respect for Dan.”
Well that settles that.
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