Vanderbilt won nine games in each of James Franklin's final two seasons as the football coach of the Commodores, but they struggled to a 3-9 record in Derek Mason's 2014 debut season.
The regrouping Commodores already have held seven practices leading up to their March 21 spring game, and Mason was a guest this week on Chattanooga's "Press Row" on ESPN 105.1.
Q: What did you learn most from last year?
A: "I knew this was a tough conference from top to bottom, but the most compelling thing for me was that in building this thing, I worked as a CEO and needed to be more of a bricklayer. I've learned a lot about what you have to do in terms of putting your stamp on your team and being resolute in what you believe, and our football team is a better football team right now.
"I feel really good about the changes that have been made."
Q: You were the first SEC school to start spring practice. Why such an early start?
A: "Since we did not participate in bowl season, our guys were chomping at the bit. We had been away from football for a while, and it was time for us to get back on the grass. I think we laid a foundation coming off that Tennessee game, and this group of guys is primed for it. This will leave us with a longer training period on the back end, and we need that for the strength gains that we need to make."
Q: You replaced offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell with Andy Ludwig, who was at Wisconsin the past two seasons. What kind of imprint has he made?
A: "He's made an immediate imprint. You look at where he's been and what he's done, and he just brings a huge vacuum of expertise in what we're doing here. It's similar in terms of mindset, but the structure has been very, very different. He knows how to utilize every piece of talent on our roster, and he's been in the lab over this last month just looking at who our guys are and acclimating them to his system.
"Our offense now looks like what I thought our offense could have looked like last fall in terms of the variations and personnel groupings and just being able to utilize the strengths of what we have and what we do."
Q: You played four quarterbacks last season and have three (Patton Robinette, Johnny McCrary and Wade Freebeck) back. Would you like to settle on one sooner than later?
A: "We're going to settle on one quarterback, and that is going to play itself out. That's why you go through spring, because you want the leadership to show itself through the summer. Coach Ludwig would like to get it down to two quarterbacks and then find the one you think is your guy.
"The battle is heavy, and I've seen the investment in these guys with what we're doing in the last two weeks. I'm starting to see more efficiency in terms of our ball-handling and improving our turnover ratio and how we're managing the game."
Q: You are not only the head coach but also the defensive coordinator. How has it been juggling both roles?
A: "I've probably never had more fun than this last month and a half. Being back in that room and talking structurally about who we are has been great, and we've been able to modify some things and streamline some calls that will really make us more effective. I've gone back through and looked at how SEC teams attacked us a year ago, and this staff is going to do a good job of knowing our opponent and getting the matchups that we want."
Q: ESPN recently ranked Vanderbilt as the toughest job in a Power Five conference to get to college football's four-team playoff. On the heels of last season's struggles, what are your expectations for this year's team?
A: "We're not making long-range projections. Everybody has an opinion, and I read that same article. We're going to be a team that makes some noise. We'll leave the predictions to the prognosticators, but all I know is that this team is capable of playing good football, as witnessed in the Tennessee game.
"We have to build on that and be better. The push this offseason is to be better and gain ground."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.