'Oh, You Mean At Vanderbilt?': Bryan Harsin Had A Truly Disrespectful Burn For Derek Mason When The Two Got Into An Argument
AL.com — Harsin’s record at Auburn is terrible by Auburn’s high standards, but the 2021 offseason was worse. He fired Bobo and saw Derek Mason leave for Oklahoma State. Ire from fans mounted at the revelation that the former Vanderbilt coach took a $ 400,000-a-year pay cut to leave.
Rumors swirled around Mason’s departure while several Auburn players opted for the transfer portal. One incident came about during Auburn’s search for a defensive line coach that resulted in hiring former Tiger defensive lineman Jimmy Brumbaugh. According to sources, Mason and Harsin disagreed about the process of selecting the defensive line coach. Mason wanted more control of the situation since the D-line coach would be his direct report. Harsin as the head coach felt he should make the call with input from Mason.
Harsin and Mason had an interaction where Mason said “I’ve been a head coach in this league longer than you have.” Harsin replied, “Oh, you mean at Vanderbilt?” according to people familiar with the situation.
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The stories that come out after a college football coach is fired are incredible, especially at a place like Auburn, which seems to have taken the baton from Tennessee as the SEC's dysfunctional dumpster fire.
Bryan Harsin may have been one of the worst hires in college football this century, but you can't say he wasn't ready to absolutely eviscerate somebody at a moment's notice — except an opponent in an actual game, but that's beside the point. If you were getting into it with Harsin, you better have your facts straight because he's coming with the receipts.
Poor Derek Mason, man. He's a pretty good defensive coach who had the misfortune of his first head coaching job coming at the worst program in college football. And he actually took Vandy to two bowl games, something only James Franklin had done in Nashville. As funny as that quote from Harsin is, it seems pretty clear why Mason was willing to bolt for a $400,000 pay decrease.
It definitely won't be a big-time program, but best of luck to the next school that decides to give Harsin another chance. It sounds like a great time for everybody involved!