Despite putting up his fifth straight sub-.500 season during his five years in Nashville, Derek Mason has again been rewarded by his employer.
In a press release Friday, Vanderbilt announced that Mason, along with two other head coaches in other sports, is on the receiving end of a contract extension from the university. The length of the extension was not divulged.
Also not divulged were any financial enhancements that may have been included as part of the amended contract. Mason’s $2.8 million salary in 2018 was 12th in the 14-team SEC, ahead of only Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead ($2.6 million) and Missouri’s Barry Odom ($2.35 million).
“We are excited to keep Derek, [bowling head coach] John [Williamson] and [men’s golf head coach] Scott [Limbaugh] on West End for years to come,” said athletic director Malcolm Turner in a statement. “Their leadership remains vital to building Vanderbilt’s consistent level of success. We look forward to continuing to find additional ways to help grow and support these and all of our varsity programs as we compete for championships.”
James Franklin went 9-4 in each of his last two seasons at Vandy before leaving for Penn State. Since replacing Franklin, Mason has gone 24-38 overall and 9-31 in SEC play. The Commodores have lost at least seven games in each of Mason’s five seasons, hitting that number in the loss column each of the past three years.
On the positive side, Mason is one of just two Vandy football coaches who has led the Commodores to multiple bowl berths -- Franklin, obviously, is the other -- while they’ve beaten in-state rival Tennessee three straight times for the first time since the 1920s.