In his first four years at Vanderbilt, Derek Mason has an 18-31 overall record and a 6-26 SEC record. Those aren’t good numbers, but Vanderbilt fans have recently taken to bringing up another Vanderbilt coach with a worse record through four years.
Bobby Johnson was hired at Vanderbilt after the 2001 season, on the heels of a successful run at Furman, where he went 60-36 over an eight-year tenure and led the Paladins all the way to the FCS (then I-AA) Championship Game in 2001. His first four years produced an 11-35 record, with a 5-27 record in SEC games.