Sources: MTSU expected to hire Mason as coach

Pete Thamel, ESPNDec 5, 2023, 07:18 PM ET

Middle Tennessee is expected to hire Derek Mason as head football coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

A deal is expected to come together soon, as the school has announced a 9 a.m. news conference for Wednesday.

Mason has a long history of coaching in college and the NFL. In addition to being a former head coach at Vanderbilt, he has been the defensive coordinator at Stanford, Auburn and Oklahoma State. He spent the 2023 season as an analyst for the SEC Network.

Mason will take over for Rick Stockstill, who departed this spring after 18 years and amassing a 113-111 record.

Mason spent seven years at Vanderbilt, which is about 40 miles away from Middle Tennessee’s campus in Murfreesboro. Mason went 27-55 in his seven years at Vanderbilt, including a pair of bowl games. After Mason’s departure, Vanderbilt committed to building world-class facilities and investing in football at an SEC level.

Mason, 54, developed a reputation as a top defensive mind as he worked his way up on Stanford’s staffs from 2010 to 2013. In his two seasons as David Shaw’s defensive coordinator, Stanford went 23-4 and played in the Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2012. He helped developed a bevy of NFL players, including star cornerback Richard Sherman, who went on to a long and decorated NFL career.

Coaches have viewed Middle Tennessee in recent years as a unpolished gem, as Nashville’s metro area has expanded toward Murfreesboro. The school has competed in FBS football since 1999 and has 10 bowl appearances and two conference championships.

In a reconfigured Conference USA, Middle Tennessee is considered one of the better jobs. Liberty ran away with the conference in 2023, and Middle Tennessee finished just 3-5 in conference play this year.