Two Commodore Defensive Back Enter Transfer Portal
Two Vanderbilt Commodores defensive backs have made surprise decisions to enter their names into the NCAA Transfer Portal this week, with one being a projected starter.
Safety Tae Dailey, who projected as a starter, made the surprising announcement on Tuesday. His announcement came on the heels of teammate Tre Douglas's announcement of his entrance into the portal.
While the Commodores are deep at safety, the fact that a presumed starter is looking to transfer raises questions as to what's going on inside the wall of the team.
Perhaps it's something simple, or maybe it was that playing time was becoming an issue because of the depth in those positions.
Either way, this increases the total number to 26 players who have transferred or opted-out of the season for Vanderbilt.
Head coach Derek Mason spoke of his team's depth at safety during a Zoom conference call with local media last week.
"To have veteran guys who've seen football, who understand how quarterbacks are gonna undress you, situational football, being able to understand what split and formation alignments say to you is really important," said Mason during the call. "We try to break these guys up — not so much that we have 1s and 2s, but I'd rather call them goons and goblins, and that's just the idea of having two-deep of experienced guys who know how to communicate. Because if you don't communicate, it's the fastest way to get yourself beat. There's more games lost than won. So having guys that communicate, that understand not only the scheme but what the offense is giving you is important so you can play ahead of the play."
The Commodores are scheduled to begin the 2020 season on Sept. 26 in College Station, against the No.10 ranked Texas A&M Aggies.
Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.
