Feb. 3, 2016
Mason Press Conference | Fisher Interviews Mason | Jones, Wallace & Williams Interview
Derek Mason
Opening statement:
It’s good to be back in this room. It means that football is happening so that’s a good thing. I’m here to talk about this 2016 Vanderbilt recruiting class. This class for us was complete with length, athleticism, explosive players, and we were able to fill an abundance of needs whether it be offense or defense or special teams. That was important- we needed to get guys that fit who we are. This brand is continuing to move forward, and in year three it was important to make sure that we had a class that really reflected not only the needs but who we are and where we’re going. It was really good to be able to look at this class and say, in the end when it was all signed, we touched all parts of where we felt we had need. That was good for us. I’m excited about that. I’m excited about the length of this class, like I stated before.
For me, it always starts upfront; you look at the offensive line and where we were. You look at Sean Auwae, him being an interior player, a flex player being able to play center, guard, you like what he is and what he can be. Athletically, he’s strong at the point of attack. He was exciting to watch. Then I had some time to spend with Braden Kopp as well as Devin Cochran. When you look at those two guys with a basketball background, they’re extremely athletic and can move their feet well. They can play in space, they can protect off the edges. That’s important when you look at the type of edge rush athletes that we get in this conference. It’s important to have size, length and athleticism. The biggest area of need for us offensively was the receiver position. Addressing that with three receivers. This receiver class has a little bit of size and is big on play making ability. When you look at where we’re at with Tennyson, he may be one of the most dynamic returners in the country. I think he’s instant offense when you talk about special teams. We think he can help us immediately on special teams. He’s a playmaking machine and we like that. You come back with Kalija [Lipscomb] and what he is. He’s strong, extremely good hands, great out of the break and can separate. When you look at those guys, along with Jackson Winrow, they’re productive. That’s what we needed. In this conference, you need space players that can produce. With Winrow you can see the elite speed down the field, the ability to take the top off the defense, and we need that. We feel comfortable because we believe that we’re going to push the guys that are already in the room, because we believe that the guys that are already here have gotten better from a year ago. Now it’s about the total package and what that’s going to look like for us heading into spring and moving into fall camp.
At the quarterback position, to add Deuce [Wallace] this spring, and what he means to us right now as a young quarterback is exciting. He’s nimble, he’s got great football IQ, moves his feet extremely well in the pocket, he can buy time as a quarterback and he’s accurate. He’s a winner, we like exactly what we see. Having seen him compete early over the last two and a half weeks – I’m excited because he’s got leadership qualities and leadership skills that I think are very important for that position.
Moving to the defensive side of the ball, I’ll start with corner, back to front. When you look at the secondary, you like what you see outside with Elijah [Hamilton] and Joejuan [Williams]. Joejuan is on campus. Both of those guys are long, 6’2 ½” and 6’2″, in a conference where everybody’s big and everybody’s got explosive players. We needed to make sure that we added length outside that and had playmaking ability, the ability to tackle in space as well as get the ball out of the air. What you see from Joejuan and Elijah are guys that have ball skills. Adding length with ball skills, and the ability to change direction and finish in space, you’ve got two pretty good corners. I feel strongly about that, we’re excited about these guys. At the safety position, we have one on campus, Zaire [Jones]. He’s done a terrific job. He’s short, he’s compact, and that’s what you want from a safety- a guy who can play and fill gaps in the run game and show a range in deep defense- and that’s exactly what he is. I like his mind and his temperament, and he’s only going to add value to the room this spring. The two safeties that we have coming, Frank Coppet who I think is going to be outstanding, along with Austin Quillen, those guys are extremely talented in terms of their movement skills. [Coppet] played at St. Thomas Aquinas, which is a national program, and the other being Jenks in Oklahoma which is also a national program. We’re talking about two winners, between these guys they’ve won six state titles. They’re guys who can command the defense, get guys lined up, play fast and play smart in a conference where you have to do exactly that. These guys understand how to play at a high level. I’m excited to get these guys in the room and get them on the grass.
For linebackers, we got long. [Kenny] Hebert and [Andre] Mintze are in the vein of Stephen Weatherly, but they have more space play ability. In this defense that’s what you want. You want guys that can walk out in space and cover. They’re six-three in terms of high, but their frames are huge. That’s what Stephen was for us, so we needed to make sure that we replaced Stephen. We can move either one of those players inside, so we have position versatility.
This defensive line has three big guys up front. They’re strong at the point of attack, they’re quick, they’re stout and in the SEC you need that. They’re going to add value to us as young guys being able to step on the field early and give us some help. Cameron Tidd may be one of the most explosive and the most ready. He has length and strength. Some people look at the blogs, but I look at how they lead. Every one of these guys knows how to play the game.
Our punter Sam Loye has ability to extend and can really put the ball out there. His background is a little different; he’s got Aussie potential as a punter. He’s a two-step punter, he’s dangerous and we need that in special teams.
Overall, this class is a class full of players that fit need. I’m not worried about what anybody says. I’ve been doing this long enough and I know that I’m going to play these guys as they come in and show their medal. This class is extremely excited about getting in here and competing. They are winners, and winning is a big part of the equation. A culture of winning is something that we aspire to, and these guys are definitely about that. I’m excited to get these guys on the grass.
Mason on being the play caller:
I believe that getting back in the room helped me understand exactly where our strengths and weaknesses were. I have to give credit to Tyler Barnes, because we sat down and talked about need and where we wanted to go. You have to be really strategic. We get a chance to sign twenty first-round draft picks. The great thing about coaching college football is getting to choose the guys that fit your skeet. We were strategic about skill sets, size, athletic components and abilities. I think our coaches did a terrific job of getting us guys that fell in our “A” range. In past years we had to look at possibly getting to a “B”, but this year we never dipped. In year three you want to hit your targets and be consistent about what you like.
Mason on what he means when he talks about the importance of “length”:
When you’re talking about length, some of it is height. When you’re talking about linemen and outside backers, you’re talking height. Other positions, and even corner, are talking about wingspan. You’re talking about length of extremities – arms and hands. We looked at hand size, and this is a class full of guys with big hands. Big hands equal opportunity to clamp, to finish, and to be strong at the point of attack.
Mason on how it was helpful to have some commits start mid-year:
Joejuan was a big get for us at Vanderbilt. He stayed home. Sometimes it’s hard to keep them in the state area. He saw the value, the coaching and the opportunity to compete, and he liked what we brought to the table. It makes it easy on me to know that we’ve got a guy in the room [Joejuan] that is going to push some older guys outside to play. We need that now. He’s excited because he hasn’t played in over a year. He’s fully ready to compete, going after some of our older guys and our veteran. It gets back to identifying mindsets of guys and Joejuan is a competitive dude. He’s going to have a chance to compete early. Right now, he’s in a good frame of mind. Zaire [Jones] is the same way. These guys want to play at this level. They’ve seen the SEC, they’re not afraid of the SEC, but they’ve got to grow into the SEC. That’s not an overnight process; so the faster they got here the easier it was on us to get the acclimated.
Mason on developing a winning culture at Vanderbilt:
Culture is everything. At programs with winning traditions, sometimes they talk about kids being tapped out. That’s on the coach to figure out when a young man has reached his ceiling. If a young man knows how to win and he’s been in a competitive environment, those things don’t wear off over night. We’ve tried to identify guys who have it all, the academic component, the athletic traits and the will to win.
Mason on the final days of recruiting:
Year three was easier in some ways and tougher in others. Our kids are so solid and resolute because of the relationships that we’ve built and the strong Vanderbilt brand. I believe that when you recruit the right student athlete, you worry about the ones you get, not the ones that you don’t get. We did a great job of building relationships with the ones we wanted. In the end, it made the process a lot smoother and easier for us to sleep. We just had to make sure that we didn’t take these student athletes for granted. For us we stayed consistent with our process. I can’t give enough credit to our support staff. Guys crisscrossed the country. We covered twelve states, from Hawaii all the way to south Florida. The last forty-eight hours were much easier in year three than they were in year one.