Vandy out to play like 'an SEC team'

FAYETTEVILLE -- Vanderbilt's collapse to a 3-9 record last year was an eye-opener for Coach Derek Mason.

He said so himself last week at SEC media days with a series of honest admissions that are a bit rare in major college football.

"The biggest component where I felt like we fell short, in watching our games, [was] being competitive and what that looked like," said Mason, who is going into this second season as the Commodores coach. "We weren't a very competitive football team in 2014, and that's on me. I take full responsibility for that."

Mason, a Northern Arizona graduate who made his name as defensive coordinator at Stanford earlier this decade, said he made some false assumptions after taking the reins from James Franklin last year.

"I assumed that just because we were in the SEC that we'd play like an SEC team, and we didn't," Mason said.

Vanderbilt had won nine games in consecutive years and had played in bowl games three consecutive years for the first time when Mason got the job.

Mason is convinced he has the Commodores heading more toward the kind of team that averaged eight victories under Franklin rather than the historical Vanderbilt product, reflected by last year's 0-8 finish in the SEC. That marked the 49th time in the past 55 years the Commodores won two or fewer SEC games.

"We're going to be a better football team," Mason said. "What that is, I can't predict wins. But I do know, in terms of being competitive, doing the right things, and creating men that will thrive here in the SEC, I can do that."

Mason reworked his staff in December, firing offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell, defensive coordinator David Kotulski, receivers coach Marc Lubick and conditioning director Bill Hughan. He replaced Dorrell with Andy Ludwig and installed himself as defensive coordinator.

"He knows how he wants things to look and how he wants things to be done," sophomore tailback Ralph Webb said.

"He knows the defense's strengths and weaknesses more," sophomore linebacker Nigel Bowden said. "He knows what blitzes will work for us, what coverages work the most.

"I'm really excited, especially with a coach that has a work ethic like that, to be able to handle two jobs at the same time. His work ethic rubs off on all of us."

The Commodores took their lumps by playing 33 freshmen in 2014, a move that should help to produce fewer mistakes this fall. Vanderbilt ranked No. 122 in total offense with 288 yards per game and No. 116 with 17.2 points per game with a carousel at quarterback.

"It was frustrating not being able to get the offense going and have somebody there to lead it from that position," senior center Spencer Pulley said of the erratic quarterback play.

Mason hopes Ludwig's schemes will lead to drastic improvement for the offense, with sophomores Wade Freebeck and Johnny McCrary vying for the starting quarterback job.

"I know Andy Ludwig has done a tremendous job in being able to assess our talents," Mason said. "You have to cater or build an offense around what you do best. So spring for him was about assessing our talent, our ability level, and what we do and how to help our quarterbacks manage the game."

The Commodores ranked No. 121 nationally in both third-down conversion percentage and turnover margin, leading to their poor offensive showing.

"When you put yourself in a position where you can hold on to the football and you can be better at not turning it over, better on third down, better in the red zone, you find yourself scoring points," Mason said.

Vanderbilt's defensive shakeup included added duties for assistant coach Kenwick Thompson, the former all-conference player and defensive captain at Harding University. Thompson, who handled outside linebackers last season, will now guide the entire linebacking crew.

Mason said building confidence this offseason was important for his program.

"When you're a football team that lacks confidence and couldn't find itself trying to get out of its own way, the confidence factor was few and far between," he said. "I think what we've been able to do is bridge that gap."

Vanderbilt's schedule is not conducive to a huge turnaround. The Commodores play six games away from home, including nonconference games at Middle Tennessee State and Houston.

Sports on 07/20/2015