Wake up to inspiration from Auburn football’s new DC Derek Mason

Auburn football got a man of high character and sound spirituality with the hiring of new defensive coordinator Derek Mason.

Fly War Eagle was tough on Auburn football’s newest hire Derek Mason yesterday in grading the slew of new hires that have been added to Bryan Harsin’s coaching staff:

"Mason is a good hire, but if we’re being real, his results as a head coach are not exactly inspiring. He did not have a single winning season for Vandy since being hired in 2014, although his teams have withstood the brutality of the SEC East with a few upsets over the years over the likes of Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.Last season, his team was the 121st-ranked defense in yards per game, surrendering 487 yards per game. He’ll have a severely better Auburn defense to oversee, but there could have been more excitement surrounding a Marcus Freeman hire. For what it’s worth, Freeman is being looked at by LSU, who finished with a worse record than the Tigers in 2020."

Marcus Freeman is the flashier name at this point because of the success the University of Cincinatti had this season in the AAC. Mason lost to every opponent in the SEC, but taking on Top 10 opponents like Georgia and Texas A&M is obviously a different challenge altogether than stopping the offense of East Carolina (which by the way, isn’t a real place).

I may have gotten caught up in the rumors of Freeman getting an invitation to interview for the DC role in Baton Rouge, and the truth is that stepping up from the American Conference, whose greatest adversary to the Bearcats is the underperforming UCF Knights, is still not the same as stepping down from a head coaching position for an SEC school.

It just means more, ya know?

Anyway, now that I have purged my soul of the guilt of dulling the shine of Auburn football’s newest hire, I want to bless you with some Friday morning inspiration from the Tigers’ replacement for the disgraced Kevin Steele:

Mason is clearly a man with strong faith, and it is so inspirational to see him speak in such a positive light given all of the craziness this world is immersed in at the moment.

War Damn Eagle, Mr. Mason. FWE looks forward to you giving every Tiger that can see the inspiration to be excited about the 2021 season…but also about waking up and seizing the day they were blessed to be given.