Derek Mason, Vanderbilt Agree on 3-Year Contract Extension

Vanderbilt and head football coach Derek Mason have agreed to a three-year contract extension, according to Adam Sparks of the Tennessean.

On Tuesday, athletics director David Williams confirmed the extension includes a raise for Mason, an expanded recruiting budget and extensions and raises for multiple assistant coaches.

"We went to a bowl game in his third year, but it's not only that. You could see the growth in the program overall," Williams said. "This year will be the first year that we actually have the type of depth that we would like to have, and I think Derek is a master at developing players."      

While the Commodores have gone just 13-24 in Mason's three seasons at the helm, the team went 6-7 last season and reached the Independence Bowl. The program has shown growth under Mason, improving its record each season, and has made recruiting Polynesian players from Hawaii and the West Coast a priority.

That, in turn, required a larger recruiting budget.

"We wanted to put more money in [the recruiting budget], so they can go get those players as much as they can," Williams said. "And we needed to put more money into Derek's assistants to retain them because they were getting inquiries from other places."

Mason came to Vanderbilt with big shoes to fill in 2014, replacing James Franklin, who left the school to become Penn State's head coach. Franklin went 24-15 in his three seasons with the Commodores, reaching three bowl games and winning two of them.

Given Mason's new contract extension, Vanderbilt believes he is the man to replicate that success.