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Derek Mason

 Oklahoma State Athletics

Middle Tennessee State University will hire former Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason to guide the Blue Raiders’ football team.

The school made it official Wednesday morning, announcing it had signed Mason to a five-year contract. He replaces Rick Stockstill, who was fired Nov. 27 after 18 years at MTSU.

Mason spent seven seasons as Vanderbilt’s head coach, posting a record of 27-55, 10-46 in the Southeastern Conference. He took the Commodores to two bowl games, with Vanderbilt losing the Independence Bowl in 2016 and the Texas Bowl in 2018. Mason’s ‘Dores also beat Tennessee in three straight seasons, 2016-18.

"We are ecstatic to welcome Coach Derek Mason to Middle Tennessee and the Blue Raider football program," MTSU AT Chris Massaro said in a release. "With his experience as a head coach, his reputation for coaching fast, aggressive defenses, his strong reputation as a recruiter, and deep connections in college football to formulate an outstanding staff, coach Mason's vision for MTSU football fits exactly what we were looking for during our interview process. Coach Mason is no stranger to the mid-state community and we expect his connections to allow him and his staff to hit the ground running as our 15th head football coach."

The 54-year-old Mason was hired as Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2021, but resigned in February 2022 to take the Oklahoma State defensive coordinator job. He announced in January 2023 that he would not return at Oklahoma State, saying he planned to take a sabbatical after 30 years of coaching.

Mason spent last season as an analyst for the SEC Network.

"I am excited to be the 15th head coach at MTSU," Mason said in the release. "This is an emotional moment for me. This is the house that Rick Stockstill built and he left good bones and a strong foundation. He did a lot to raise and encourage these young men and help them take the journey. Now, that responsibility has been passed down to me. It's about winning and making sure we can do everything we can to resource our student athletes in a way to make them successful both on and off the field."

A Phoenix native, Mason had stints as an assistant at several colleges earlier in his career, including assistant head coach/defensive backs coach under David Shaw at Stanford from 2011-13. Mason also spent three years as assistant defensive backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings, from 2007-09.

In taking the MTSU job, Mason will lead a Blue Raiders team that went 4-8 last season, 3-8 in Conference USA. Stockstill guided MTSU to a 113-111 mark during his stay, which began in 2006.

The Blue Raiders earned bowl berths in 2021 and 2022 — winning the Bahamas Bowl and Hawaii Bowl, respectively — but posted losing records in three of the last five seasons.

MTSU has not finished with a winning conference record (and an above .500 overall mark) since 2018, a downward turn after recording five winning conference records in the school’s first six years in Conference USA.