Playing career

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, 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 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 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 where the Aloha Bowl's successor, the Hawaii Bowl is played. 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' 44-41 overtime loss to Texas Tech in the 2006 Insight Bowl, 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 is a college football analyst and broadcaster for the Big Ten Network.

Personal

Mason and his wife, Kate, have five children and live in the suburbs of Minneapolis. His middle name is Oren; he was named after his father. When on summer break from school, he worked part-time for the Newark Evening News, defunct since 1973.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Kent State Golden Flashes (Mid-American Conference)
1986	Kent State	5-6	5-3	T-2nd
1987	Kent State	7-4	5-3	T-2nd
Kent State:		12-10	10-6
Kansas Jayhawks (Big Eight Conference/Big 12 Conference)
1988	Kansas	1-10	1-6	7th
1989	Kansas	4-7	2-5	6th
1990	Kansas	3-7-1	2-4-1	T-4th
1991	Kansas	6-5	3-4	5th
1992	Kansas	8-4	4-3	T-3rd	W Aloha	23	22
1993	Kansas	5-7	3-4	5th
1994	Kansas	6-5	3-4	5th
1995	Kansas	10-2	5-2	T-2nd	W Aloha	10	9
1996	Kansas	4-7	2-6	5th
Kansas:		47-54-1	25-38-1
Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten Conference)
1997	Minnesota	3-9	1-7	T-9th
1998	Minnesota	5-6	2-6	T-7th
1999	Minnesota	8-4	5-3	T-4th	L Sun	17	18
2000	Minnesota	6-6	4-4	T-5th	L MicronPC.com
2001	Minnesota	4-7	2-6	T-10th
2002	Minnesota	8-5	3-5	7th	W Music City
2003	Minnesota	10-3	5-3	T-4th	W Sun	17	20
2004	Minnesota	7-5	3-5	8th	W Music City
2005	Minnesota	7-5	4-4	7th	L Music City
2006	Minnesota	6-7	3-5	T-6th	L Insight
Minnesota:		64-57	32-48
Total:		123-121-1

[ Source: Wikipedia ]