Derek Mason showed strong improvement in 2016 by carrying Vanderbilt to a 6-6 record with wins over Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Georgia. Naturally, that’s made him a hot name when it comes to coaching rumors.
So when his name popped up in the list of potential candidates to replace the recently-fired Sonny Dykes at California, Mason moved quickly to put out the flames.
The Golden Bears’ putrid defense made Mason a logical target of rumors. He made his name as a defensive coordinator with Stanford, regularly shutting down high powered offenses like Oregon’s en route to three straight BCS Bowl appearances.