TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Saturday’s SEC opener between No. 1 Alabama and Vanderbilt will offer a matchup of two undefeated teams with strong defenses. It will also be a meeting of two close friends.
Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason took some time Wednesday to reflect on his friendship with Alabama defensive line coach Karl Dunbar during the SEC Coaches Teleconference. The two spent three years (2007-09) working together as assistant coaches for the Minnesota Vikings as Dunbar served as the defensive line coach while Mason was an assistant defensive backs coach.
During that span, the two helped lead the Vikings to a 31-20 record, including NFC North titles in 2008 and 2009 and a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2009. The Vikings defense also held opponents under 21 points per game in all three of those seasons.
“When I got there Coach Dunbar had the most dominant line in the NFL,” Mason said. “Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Jared Allen, Karl Dunbar’s been a great coach for a long time. Our families became close, we worked in the same room, we broke bread together. It was family.”
Read: Derek Mason: 'When we face Alabama, we're going to be ready to play'
Mason left the Vikings to take a job as Stanford’s defensive backs coach in 2010, but the two remained close. Now seven years later, they will meet again as opponents for the first time.
“We are going to go toe-to-toe on Saturday, and it’ll be good to see him. But on the same token, he’s trying to win a ballgame, and I am too,” Mason said. “Man I love that dude and he’s always on my heart, but when it’s all said and done it’s time to play ball.”
After Dunbar helped coach a defense that led the nation with 54 sacks last year, his unit has seen less success early this season. Alabama has managed to get to the quarterback just five times in its first three games with only two of those sacks coming from a defensive lineman.
Much of that is due to the Crimson Tide losing its top four sacks leaders from last season, including All-American defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, who got to the quarterback a team-high 10.5 times. While Alabama is still waiting for some of its defensive linemen to step up and fill that void, Mason has no doubt Dunbar will deliver results by the end of the season.
“Karl’s a beast. Guys believe in him, he’s a great teacher,” Mason said. “He understands how to get guys to play to their max potential. I don’t care how talented you are, Karl Dunbar is going to push you to your limit and then squeeze everything that he can out of you in order for him to make you a better player and a better man.”
Alabama will play Vanderbilt on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tenn.
