One overlooked angle heading into Saturday afternoon's matchup at Camp Randall between the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Wisconsin Badgers is the status of both head coaches. At one point in time, Luke Fickell and Derek Mason were both hotshot defensive coordinators at strong programs, chomping at the bit to lead one of their own. Flash forward to 2025, and now look at them...
Mason first made a name for himself as an assistant coach on Jim Harbaugh and later David Shaw's Stanford Cardinal's staffs from 2010 to 2013. After an excellent run as the Cardinal's defensive coordinator, he parlayed that into being James Franklin's successor at Vanderbilt.