After a short absence from coaching, Derek Mason is back, taking over as the head coach of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. It is Mason’s first head coach role since his time with the Vanderbilt Commodores, where he went 27-55 between 2014 and 2020. Back in the state, how much will Mason’s salary be as the head coach of the Blue Raiders?
Derek Mason’s Salary and Contract in 2024
Mason was hired to be the head coach of Middle Tennessee following the departure of long-tenured leader Rick Stockstill, signing a five-year agreement with the school that will pay him about $1 million per year. Additionally, he has an assistant salary pool of about $1.7 million per year.
Outside of those terms, nothing else is known about Mason’s contract as the Middle Tennessee head coach. No details have been released regarding his incentives or buyout terms, and at the time of his appointment, the fine print was still being finalized.
Mason’s previous job in football, as the defensive coordinator for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2022, gave him a similar salary to his one at Middle Tennessee. Under his two-year agreement to work on Mike Gundy’s staff, he earned around $1.1 million annually.
Money, however, doesn’t appear to be the motivating factor behind Mason’s return to the head coaching arena.
“There was just something about this job, home,” Mason said during his opening press conference. “I’ve been here in Tennessee now 10 years. I may seem new to some people, but 10 years in Tennessee, that’s like 25 dog years for other people in other places.”
“You have to have good bones,” Mason continued as he discussed the legacy of Blue Raider football. “This place has really good bones. It has history. Now, it’s the reset. It’s the idea of ‘What little pieces do we need? What does it take? Let’s do it together.'”
It appears that Mason has five seasons to get from reset to results. However, the length of his contract is standard for a college football head coach. Despite his overall losing record at Vanderbilt, he outlasted his original contract. Bringing success back to Blue Raider football would allow him to do the same.
Derek Mason’s Net Worth
Based on an assumption that Mason’s salary is around $1 million annually throughout the five-year contract, the new Blue Raider head coach would have a net worth of $5 million. However, that doesn’t include any potential performance-related incentives or additional perks of his employment at Middle Tennessee.
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It also doesn’t inlcude his employment as an analyst for ESPN during the 2023 college football campaign. His earnings from the network haven’t been disclosed, but it would be a fair guess to say that they aren’t close to what he earned as a defensive coordinator for Oklahoma State or his current salary as the head coach at Middle Tennessee.
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