2019 Vanderbilt Football Spring Preview

Vanderbilt Football began spring preparations back in February. With the Commodores spring football game fastly approaching, the Dores have a lot of work to do and new faces to learn.

Vanderbilt Football had a 6-7 record last year and went 3-5 in SEC play last year. Head coach Derek Mason will look to improve on that record as he heads into his sixth season.

The Commodores return 14 starters from the 2018 season including running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, tight end Jared Pinkney and wideout Kalija Lipscomb.

Those three guys were crucial pieces to Vanderbilt’s offense last year and will have even more prominent roles in 2019.

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Despite returning three major pieces to the offense, the Commodores don’t have a veteran quarterback to get it to them.

Not to mention, new coaches often bring struggles to a team.

Who will take the Snaps for Vandy?

The most significant position Vanderbilt has to fill is the quarterback role after losing four-year starter Kyle Shurmur.

For the first time in four years, there will be a quarterback competition in Nashville.

According to Vanderbilt’s website, five scholarship quarterbacks are competing for that starting spot. Mo Hanson, Deuce Wallace, and Allan Walters all have one to two years behind Shurmur.

Hanson and Wallace have some playing experience, but not much. Walters redshirted last season, so he didn’t see the field at all. Despite having three quarterbacks already on campus, Vanderbilt brought in two more quarterbacks this spring.

Early enrollee Jamil Muhammad and graduate transfer Riley Neal are on campus and are looking to cause an uproar in the quarterback room.

The competition is wide open in Nashville, and with 20 days till the spring game, it’ll be interesting to see which one emerges at the top.

Coaching changes on Both sides of the ball

Vanderbilt promoted quarterbacks coach Gerry Gdowski to offensive coordinator after Andy Ludwig took the Utah OC job.

Mason also brought in Tim Horton to be the new running backs coach and Devin Fitzsimmons to take over the special teams and tight end duties.

However, the Commodores staff didn’t stay full long. Defensive line coach Nick Eason took a job with the Cincinnati Bengals after only being on Vanderbilt’s staff for 13 days. Inside Linebackers coach, Chris Marve left the program for a better position at Mississippi State.

Now Mason has to figure out who he wants coaching at these two positions. Despite being in the middle of spring practice where guys get to know the coaches and that relationship starts, Vanderbilt will likely wait until after spring ball to hire any new coaches.

2019 Outlook for Commodores

Vanderbilt has a lot of adversities to overcome this offseason and I mean a lot. The Commodores must find a starting quarterback and let new coaches get acquainted.

2019 could prove to be another long season for Vanderbilt. However, with 14 returning, there could be just enough experience there to help the Commorodes produce another .500 season and maybe a bowl game.

First, though, Vanderbilt has to get ready for its annual spring game. The Black and Gold game will be on Saturday, March 30 and will air on the SEC Network. Kickoff will be at noon ET.

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