NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt football program Wednesday added a few more key pieces to its 2020 class during National Signing Day.
A quintet of new Commodores polished off an already-impressive group who had previously signed in December.
“This is about relationships,” Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason said Wednesday. “This is about staying calm in the midst of recruiting – and recruiting is always chaos. You never know how this thing is going to end, you never know how it’s going to go.”
Quarterback Danny Clark, wide receiver Will Sheppard, safety Donovan Kaufman and defensive linemen Alex Williams and Raashaan Wilkins inked with Vanderbilt on Wednesday. It’s a seasoned group featuring a pair of play-making youngsters from Louisiana.
Kaufman and Sheppard are each incoming freshmen who hail from The Pelican State. They bring impressive numbers from their high school career. Sheppard finished his career with 33 receiving touchdowns and more than 2,200 yards while Kaufman was named the 2019 5A defensive player of the year.
In Louisiana’s Class 5A Division I title game, Kaufman had 11 tackles, returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. Then he made a game-winning interception.
“(Kaufman) relayed to me in this process, he said, ‘Coach, you’re the guy for me. I’ve talked to a lot of coaches, I’ve been to a lot of places and I understand how I can make an impact here at Vanderbilt University,’ ” Mason said. “Looking at his film, looking at his skillset, looking at his ability to be a playmaker at safety and nickel, he’s going to make an impact player in 2020.”
Mason also found another quarterback to join in that position battle this fall. Clark, who began his career at Kentucky before throwing for 2,166 yards and 18 touchdowns last season at Copiah-Lincoln College in Mississippi, joins first-year Vandy QBs Jeremy Moussa, Ken Seals and Mike Wright in the quarterback room.
Clark hails from Akron, Ohio, where he won multiple state championships for Archbishop Hoban.
“He’s long, strong, athletic,” Mason said of his new QB. “He’s a big quarterback. He’s a highly-recruited young man coming out of high school. He’s going to add some competition to that (QB) room.”
Vandy also beefed up its defensive line with the additions of with Williams and Wilkins. Williams spent two seasons at Ohio State and played in six games for the Buckeyes while totaling eight tackles – including three at Rutgers in 2019.
Wilkins played for Monterey Peninsula College in California in 2019 where he made 44 tackles and 8 1/2 sacks.
“This young man (Williams), when you look at 6-7, 267 pounds, he’s long, explosive, athletic – reminds you of Dayo (Odeyingbo),” Mason said. “Very, very similar in terms of his skills and abilities. We got better.”
Mason and the Commodores now turn their attention to spring practice which begins Feb. 25. That date will be one of the first steps toward working toward the 2020 opener against Mercer on Sept. 5 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
And now Vandy has 20 newcomers to join in that endeavor.
“I got to give props to my staff,” Mason said. “When I look at what we do, it’s a six-month grind when you talk about the season and then the backside of this and exactly what we have to do to get to the finish line. These coaches did a great job just in terms of relationships, support staff did a great job in terms of our (official visit) weekends.
“We’re in a great city, we got a great university that we represent and when you talk about playing in the SEC it’s attractive. These young men are coming to a place where they know they’re going to platform their brand then have an opportunity to impact the SEC and the time is now.”
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
