New Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason made it very clear when he was hired that he wasn't going to try to be former Commodores coach James Franklin. While that might hold true in the months to come, Mason mimicked Franklin pretty well in the realm of recruiting over the weekend, as he helped secure six verbal commitments.
For a school that watched the bottom fall out of its recruiting class after Franklin left for Penn State last month, Vandy received a healthy amount of good news just days before national signing day, rejuvenating a program that hit a bit of a wall in the last few weeks.
Not only did the Commodores gain six more commitments, they actually got five of them to flip prior verbals to other schools: three-star safety Tre Tarpley (Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Central Catholic) flipped from Boston College, defensive end Hawkins Mann (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) switched from Nevada, quarterback Shawn Stankavage (Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) switched from East Carolina, three-star offensive tackle Bruno Reagan switched from South Florida, and defensive end Charles Wright (Irvine, Calif./Beckman) switched from San Jose State.
The sixth commitment came from long snapper Davis Winkie (Cumming, Ga./South Forsyth).
After losing 11 verbals following Franklin's departure, the Commodores' commitment number dropped all the way to eight. Now, they have some good momentum going into signing day, which just happens to be Wednesday. This class certainly doesn't look as glamorous as it once did, but Mason had a very big weekend at the right time.
It's normal for new coaches to struggle with their first recruiting class, and Mason came in having to feel the blowback from the loss of Franklin, who completely changed the culture at Vandy and recruited like no other Vandy coach before him. Mason still has a commitment from ESPN 300 running back Dallas Rivers (Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson) and could close with a few more commitments before signing day is over.
Transition is always tough for coaches, but Mason helped soften the blow of the recent mass exodus in this class with a huge final recruiting weekend in Nashville.