Coaches / Head coach / Derek Mason
Form · last two seasons
34
▼ Underperforming -10
Rating44recent
Peak52best 5 yrs
Career53whole career
confidence
Derek Mason
Head Coach · Middle Tennessee
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
62
continuity at Middle Tennessee · early
Seasons here3
Programs4
Stints4
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
Chemistry
vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.
As head coach
Rating44Form34▼ 10 under-performingPeak52Career53
2014–2026 · 10 seasonsRecord 33-73National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 44: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 52: best five-season stretch, 2014–2018 at Vanderbilt (24-38), taking over an average program.
- Career 53 (#442 since 1936): total accomplishment over 10 seasons (33-73), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
Over expectation · 2016 on34Results against what his rosters' talent predicted (program lift, evaluation, recruiting, staff building, game management).
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
Program lift30
Evaluation70
Results32
Recruiting77
Staff building45
Game management75
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Middle Tennessee | 0-0 | #129 | -1.52 SD |
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | 3-9 | #131 | -1.58 SD |
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | 3-9 | #130 | -2.08 SD |
| 2020 | Vanderbilt | 0-8 | #67 | -1.28 SD |
| 2019 | Vanderbilt | 3-9 | #112 | -0.95 SD |
| 2018 | Vanderbilt | 6-7 | #28 | +0.78 SD |
| 2017 | Vanderbilt | 5-7 | #85 | -0.39 SD |
| 2016 | Vanderbilt | 6-7 | #54 | +0.21 SD |
| 2015 | Vanderbilt | 4-8 | #79 | -0.15 SD |
| 2014 | Vanderbilt | 3-9 | #94 | -0.75 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As defensive coordinator
Rating65Peak71
His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Oklahoma State | 0.05 | -0.07 | -0.37 |
| 2021 | Auburn | 0.08 | 0.01 | 0.51 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.