After going 9-23 this past season and 4-14 in SEC play, the Vanderbilt Commodores fired head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Within days, they named James Madison’s head coach, Mark Byington, as the new leader of their men’s basketball program.

Byington has a good track record as head coach during his previous stops, but will this prior success translate to the SEC?

Mark Byington has a career head coaching record 220-137 (0.616) with stops at College of Charleston (interim), Georgia Southern, and James Madison. At JMU, he took over a 9-21 program and within 3 seasons turned them into a 22 win team, and this past year (his 4th season), JMU went an impressive 32-4 including a trip to the NCAA tournament.

In the big dance, JMU beat 5 seed Wisconsin easily before losing to the Duke Blue Devils. There is no question that Mark Byington has the knowledge and ability as a head coach to turn any program around. However, doing so at Vandy will not be an easy task.

I think there are 3 things that will define success for Byington early in his tenure at Vanderbilt. 

First, if he can get Vandy to a .500 program in SEC play within his first 2 seasons, that will define success. Taking over at Vanderbilt comes with comparatively low expectations and standards. This is a program that is desperate to just be relevant within the SEC. They have had only 3 years during the last 8 where they had a winning record in the SEC.

Currently, Vandy is an afterthought in the conference, so. getting to at least a .500 record will likely land them in the middle of the SEC race which would be a huge improvement. 

Second, within his first 4 seasons, getting Vandy back into the NCAA tournament will be a huge win. It has been 7 years since Vandy has accomplished this, but as former head coach Kevin Stallings showed during his tenure, it is possible to get Vanderbilt nationally relevant and to qualify for the big dance. He did this 5 times during a 6 year stretch.

Look at a program like Florida, who finished in the middle of the SEC and qualified for the big dance in Golden’s second season. Lamont Paris at USC is another example of a coach getting into the tournament early in his SEC coaching tenure. 

One of the good things about taking over at a program like Vandy is that, while the fans want to get into the tournament, it is not currently a yearly expectation like it is at other programs. Because of this, Byington will have time to build the program into one that can consistently compete nationally. 

Lastly, if he can win 1 tournament game in his first 5 seasons, that will indicate immense success. The last tournament win for Vanderbilt came in 2012. A tournament win within 5 seasons of his coaching tenure at the university will signify he is the right man for the job. 

It won’t be easy, but I think these are 3 attainable goals for his first 5 seasons as head coach. Every coach, regardless of program and conference, is inevitably judged by their success within the conference, against their rival, and within the NCAA tournament.

Byington will be no different, but achieving these 3 goals within his first 5 seasons will help him build the Vanderbilt men’s basketball program into a competitive force.