Mason’s first two years at Vanderbilt have mostly been a reflection of the situation when he arrived. This year won’t be.
If you need a few hints as to why Vanderbilt struggled on the football field in Derek Mason’s first two years at the helm, a look back at the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes should tell you everything you need to know.
The utter lack of contributions that Vanderbilt got from the 2011 class is rather stunning (or perhaps it shouldn’t be; after all, James Franklin had a month and a half to sell recruits on Robbie Caldwell’s 2-10 team.