Oklahoma State Announces Derek Mason As New Defensive Coordinator

Oklahoma State finally made its long-rumored choice for the open defensive coordinator position official Wednesday.

The Cowboys named Derek Mason as its defensive playcaller. He brings quite a résumé, packed with plenty of coaching experience in the Southeastern Conference.

Mason served as Auburn's defensive coordinator in 2021 after spending seven seasons as Vanderbilt's head coach from 2014-2020.

Vanderbilt, a historically difficult place to win games, have only had six seasons with six wins or more since the 1982 football season. Mason is responsible for coaching two of those six-win teams.

He gained national prominence while serving as Stanford's defensive coordinator in the early 2010s, which included an overtime loss to Oklahoma State in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.

Mason will have big shoes to fill. Jim Knowles left Stillwater to take the DC job at Ohio State after he orchestrated the nation's fifth best defense in the country in terms of yards allowed per game (297.9 yards).