LSU Football: 6 options to replace Bo Pelini as Tigers’ defensive coordinator
By Zach Ragan
2. Derek Mason — former Vanderbilt head coach
This might be my favorite choice on this list.
I’m a big fan of Derek Mason. I absolutely love his passion. I know it didn’t work out for him at Vanderbilt (which is a tough place to win at), but I think he’s a solid coach — especially when it comes to defense.
Prior to his time at Vandy, Mason had a lot of success as the defensive coordinator at Stanford, leading the Cardinal’s defense to a top 10 ranking in the nation in 2013.
Mason and Orgeron have never worked together, but they coached against each other in the Pac-12 for four seasons (while Coach O was at USC), so I have a feeling they’re very familiar with each other.
One advantage to Mason over Pelini is that Mason is much more familiar with the landscape of the SEC in 2020. He understands the league better than Pelini, which is a major reason I think Mason would be more successful at LSU.