NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After the confetti had been swept away and cheers had died down, Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason had a few moments to reflect on the young men who committed to be Commodores on Wednesday.
Fifteen student-athletes signed national letters of intent to join the Vandy football program and to play for Mason and his staff, bolstering the roster for the 2020 season.
“We got better. Vanderbilt got better. We addressed a lot of needs in some ways,” Mason said during a National Signing Day event in downtown Nashville. “Feel really excited about what these young men bring to the table.”
Mason and staff beefed up the offensive line depth and added three dynamic playmakers at the quarterback position in Jeremy Moussa, Ken Seals and Mike Wright.
Moussa, who started his career at Hawaii, threw for 90 touchdowns more than 7,000 yards in his final two years in high school before playing in two games at Hawaii and then nine games at San Bernardino Valley College (California). The 6-foot-4 California native has three years left with the Commodores.
He’ll be joined behind center by Seals and Wright. Seals threw for more than 3,000 yards as a senior and rushed for almost 500 as a Mr. Football finalist in the state of Texas. Wright, a record holder in Woodward Academy (Georgia) history for the 200-meter run, had 3,369 yards of total offense this past season.
“We felt at the quarterback position we needed to be a little bit more dynamic,” Mason said. “That’s what we were able to accomplish.”
Signs. 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬. Delivers.
Commodore Nation, welcome Mr. Texas Football semifinalist Ken Seals.
Tabbed as one of the nation’s best pro-style quarterbacks, @KenSealsQB threw for 5,714 passing yards and 53 touchdowns during his prep career.#Gold20ne | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/BHE4yB3qNB
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) December 18, 2019
We’ve struck California GOLD once again. Jeremy Moussa is officially a Commodore. @jeremy_moussa was a nine-game starter for San Bernardino Valley College, registering 353 passing yards/game (199 of 375) and 37 touchdown passes in 2019.#Gold20ne | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/tNDoEVN8pV
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) December 18, 2019
Mike Wright, black and gold looks good on you. ⭐️
@mikewright2020 accumulated 3,369 career yards of total offense and accounted for 50 touchdowns. Wright completed 64.3% of his passes (187-of-291) as a senior, throwing for 37 scores.#Gold20ne | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/cnMFFI0myY— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) December 18, 2019
That trio will is joined on the offensive side of the ball by newcomers Bradley Ashmore, Jason Brooks, Ben Cox and Kevo Wesley on the offensive front. Playmaker De’Rickey Wright, from Gadsden City, Alabama, could become a weapon at multiple positions offensively.
On the defensive side, Vandy welcomed in tackling machine Ethan Barr, a linebacker from Texas, a ball-hawking safety from Atlanta in Chase Lloyd and a pass-rush specialist in Griffin Lampton. Mason noted that group will be able to join defensive lineman Malik Langham (Florida) and Derek Green (Oklahoma) who transferred into the program before the 2019 season.
“Football’s about players. Everybody talks about schemes – we’ve got to put players in position to be successful,” Mason said. “If you don’t have players, it’s tough to play in this conference. I think with this class, in a lot of ways, we got better.
“We addressed some speed, some size, and really some dynamic play-making abilities that were lacking in last year’s class.”
Vanderbilt isn’t necessarily finished improving the roster for the 2020 season. The NCAA Division I early signing period for football runs through Friday and the regular signing period runs from Feb. 1 – April 1.
That affords Mason some time to polish off his latest recruiting class.
“This group’s not done yet,” he said. “We still have a couple more to sign in 2020. We got to continue to stay in these fights. But my staff, whether it be coaching staff or recruiting staff, did a really good job of really pressing this thing down to the end and we were able to close fast.”
