At the beginning of the year, let's face it, Derek Mason was on the hot seat.

In two years at Vanderbilt, he had just won a combined seven games and was 2-14 in conference play. 2016 was going to be a make or break year if the Dores didn't improve.

Well, they did.

The Dores finished the 2016 regular season with two massive wins, one to Ole Miss, and in their season finale, Mason's team ruined Tennessee's chances of going to the Sugar Bowl. This put them at 6-6 and the best part, it seems like every game, Vanderbilt grew as a football team. One sign of that was the progress of Kyle Shurmur. Consistently struggling to throw for over 200 yards a game, Shurmur, in his last four games threw for over 1,000 yards and had five touchdown passes.

The Dores are going to need that kind of production against NC State in the Independence Bowl. A win against the Wolfpack would set the football program up to grab some crucial recruits on National Signing Day in February and reinvigorate the fan base.

The immediate drop off after James Franklin left for Penn State was hard on the Black and Gold following. It had been through so many tough years prior to Franklin. Winning tasted good, but all of the sudden it was gone.

The first thing Mason did to helped this team to a bowl bid was the impact he made on defense. At the start of the 2015 season, Mason decided he was calling the shots. He would take over as defensive coordinator, and that year his team ended the regular season 35th in the country in team defense.

It was that success that built an identity for his football team.

But it would be his offense that would have to make plays if they were going to play in a postseason game. The running game was never in question. Ralph Webb and Khari Blasingame combined for 1,629 rushing yards, and Webb was able to break Zac Stacy's Vanderbilt career rushing record. And finally, we've seen Shurmur bring the passing game up to the running game's level.

Mason has built this program the right way. They're built on principles, RTI, relentless, tough and intelligent. With a bowl win in Shreveport, Vanderbilt will be respected and people around college football will start to take notice.

The future looks bright but they need to beat the Wolfpack if the Dores want to continue on the path they are on.