Glen Orin Mason (born April 9, 1950) is a former
American football player and coach. Mason served as the head football coach at
Kent State University from 1986 to 1987, the
University of Kansas from 1988 to 1996, and the
University of Minnesota from 1997 to 2006, compiling a career
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
record of 123–121–1.
Early life and playing career
Raised in
Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, Mason attended
Colonia High School.
[Kerkhoff, Blair]
"Kickoff Classic Notebook"
''Kansas City Star
''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'', August 28, 1993. Accessed August 7, 2019. "Mason grew up in Woodbridge, NJ, and graduated from nearby Colonia High."
Mason played college football at
Ohio State University, graduating in 1972 with a
B.A. in
education. He was a
linebacker on the depth chart behind
Randy Gradishar,
Stan White, Vic Koegel, Arnie Jones, and Rick Middleton.
Coaching career
Mason served as an assistant coach at
Ball State University
Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis.
On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...
,
Allegheny College,
Iowa State University, the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and
Ohio State University. He served as the outside linebackers coach and the offensive line coach at Ohio State in 1978 and 1979. In 1980, he was promoted to
offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...
of the
Buckeyes and remained in that position through the 1985 season.
Mason was head coach for
Kent State University in 1986 and 1987 and the
University of Kansas from 1988 to 1996. In 1995, as Kansas prepared for the
Aloha Bowl
The Aloha Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision (then known as Division I-A) college football bowl game played in Honolulu, Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.
History
The Aloha Bowl was established in 1982 by Mackay ...
against
UCLA, Mason accepted the head coaching position at the
University of Georgia. Mason had a change of heart and stayed with the Jayhawks, but left for the
University of Minnesota one season later. His first game with Minnesota in 1997 was against
Hawaii, at
Aloha Stadium
Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium located in Halawa, Hawaii, a western suburb of Honolulu (though with a Honolulu address). It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinitely ...
, Minnesota lost the game, 17–3.
In January 2002, Mason was named the president of the
American Football Coaches Association. He was the third Minnesota coach to be awarded this honor joining
Bernie Bierman (1935) and
Murray Warmath (1968). On December 31, 2006, Minnesota fired Mason immediately following the
Gophers
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...
' 44–41 overtime loss to
Texas Tech
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
in the
2006 Insight Bowl
The 2006 Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game held on December 29 at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, pitted the Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This game is tied fo ...
, a game in which the Gophers blew a 38–7 third-quarter lead. At the end of the 2006 season, he had a career record of 123–121–1.
Following his tenure at Minnesota, Mason became a college football analyst and broadcaster for the
Big Ten Network
Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...
.
Personal
Mason has two children and lives in the suburbs of
Minneapolis.
Head coaching record
See also
*
List of presidents of the American Football Coaches Association
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Glen
1950 births
Living people
American football defensive linemen
Allegheny Gators football coaches
Ball State Cardinals football coaches
Colonia High School alumni
Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches
Iowa State Cyclones football coaches
Kansas Jayhawks football coaches
Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches
Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches
Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches
Ohio State Buckeyes football players
Ball State University alumni
Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology alumni
People from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey
Players of American football from New Jersey
College football announcers