NASHVILLE – The two television sets in the lobby of Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center athletic department complex were both tuned Monday morning to the SEC Network, which was televising classic league football contests.
“They’re almost always on that or ESPN,” said a receptionist. “Especially this time of year.”
It’s football time again in Tennessee, and not only in that college town 180 miles east of the Music City known as Knoxville.
“It’s here, and I think everybody’s ready for it,” said Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams, whose football coach, Derek Mason, will meet with the media today, much as Tennessee coach Butch Jones addressed the Volunteers writers and broadcasters on Monday. Mason also is scheduled to appear on ESPN Radio’s “Press Row” show in Chattanooga (105.1 FM) this afternoon.
“I haven’t seen a group of kids more ready to get after it,” Williams continued. “I think these kids are hungry to prove to people that they’re a better team than some people think.”
What people think of the Commodores isn’t all that much. While VU did garner two first-place votes in the media poll regarding the SEC East race last month, Mason’s team also was picked fifth among the division’s seven schools, just behind Kentucky but ahead of Missouri (6) and South Carolina (7).
But Vanderbilt also dropped anchor on four wins last season, including SEC victories over UK and Mizzou and a 9-7, last-minute loss at Florida, which reached the SEC title game.
That mark leaves Mason with a 7-17 record for his two seasons on the West End after current Penn State coach James Franklin went 18-8 in his final two seasons with the Commodores. If Williams is concerned about the direction of the program, he isn’t showing it.
“Derek is a defensive genius,” said Williams, now in his 16th year at the school. “The two years before he came here, Oregon had the best offense in the country. But they lost twice to Stanford, where Derek was defensive coordinator. When James left, I thought, ‘How can we get that dude?'”
But gifted as Mason is on the defensive side of the ball, he’d never run the whole show before, never been the CEO of a Power Five conference football team.
“We had to find the sweet spot and strength of Derek. We had to get him back to spending more time on what he did best,” Williams said.
Look inside the numbers and Mason’s squad clearly improved in year two. After being outscored 399-206 in 2014, the Commodores were on the short end of a 242-182 total in 2015.
“The problem we’ve always had when we have a (football) coaching change is that we lose depth,” Williams said. “I think we’ll be better in that area this year.”
But will VU draw better than the 32,134 it averaged at home last season in a Vanderbilt Stadium that can hold 40,350?
“We have two opponents every Saturday – whoever we play on the field and whatever other games are on TV that day,” Williams said when asked about the influence of the SEC Network and televised college sports in general. “TV is now another competitor for our fans’ interest and dollar, and we created that competition.”
Williams isn’t necessarily complaining. In perfect step with the league’s other 13 ADs, he’s fond of the $30 million or so he receives each spring as part of the revenue sharing. He’s also happy the SEC isn’t looking to add teams, as the Big 12 is this summer.
“If you’re already in one of these leagues, you’re concerned with one thing above all others if your league is looking to expand: Am I going to get the same share of revenue I did before?” he said. “You don’t have to have more, but you don’t want to lose some of what you’re already getting. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: When all the dust finally settles, whenever that happens, I believe there will be four power conferences, not the five we currently have.”
Williams teaches a class in sports law during the Vandy school year. He already has planned his class’s first project around the expected Big 12 expansion.
“One group gets Houston, another group Cincinnati,” he said. “The student’s job is to write a report about why the Big 12 should let that school in.”
Williams has spent much of the summer thinking about the Vandy football rape case that has put two former players behind bars and could send two others to long prison sentences down the road. Asked about both its implications and opportunities for a much-needed culture change on college campuses everywhere, he said, “More needs to be done at all levels of education. If you’re starting to educate in college, it’s too late.”
His voice becoming softer and more serious, Williams added, “What’s hard for me is that every woman is someone’s mother, sister, wife or daughter, maybe all four. This is something we’ll never forget. And you can always be more conscientious. You ask, ‘What is enough?’ I don’t think there is ever enough (education). As long as there is one incident, we’re not doing enough.”
He does believe the SEC is not planning to do anything regarding league expansion or contraction in the foreseeable future.
“We haven’t seen anybody leaving,” he said. “We stay together. We like each other. We’re strong.”
But just in case his conference does consider such a move in the future, he knows what the litmus test should be for entry.
“Does (that school) turn on enough new (household) TVs?” he said.
Especially if it turns off fans from physically attending an SEC game in favor of watching multiple games each autumn Saturday in the comfort of their own home.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.