Derek Mason

Derek Mason is an American football coach and former player. He currently is the head coach at Vanderbilt University.

Early life and playing career
Mason attended Camelback High School in Phoenix, Arizona. After graduating from high school, he attended Northern Arizona University from 1989 to 1992, where he was a four-year letterman and two-year starter at cornerback.

Coaching career
After his playing career ended, Mason coached college football at Mesa Community College, Weber State, Bucknell, Utah, St. Mary's, New Mexico State, and Ohio. From 2007 to 2009, he coached defensive backs for the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL under Brad Childress, who had been one of his coaches at Northern Arizona.

Stanford
In 2010, Mason was hired as defensive backs coach on Jim Harbaugh's staff at Stanford. In 2011, Mason was promoted to associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator under new head coach David Shaw. In 2012, Mason became the sole defensive coordinator for the Cardinal and was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football. In 2013, the defensive coordinator position was endowed and named the Willie Shaw Director of Defense.

Vanderbilt
On January 17, 2014, Vanderbilt hired Mason as its new head football coach, succeeding James Franklin. With the hire, Vanderbilt is the first and only school in the SEC to have multiple minority head football coaches in its history.

Personal
Mason and his wife, Leighanne, have two daughters.