Brian Mason Is A Unique Coach With A Unique Approach That Works Like A Charm

It should come as no surprise that Brian Mason is a nominee for the 2022 Broyles Award. The honor goes to the nation’s top college football assistant coach every year and Notre Dame’s first-year special teams coordinator made the list of 51 nominees that was announced this week.

Mason’s work is on display every Saturday when Notre Dame takes the field against another unwitting foe. The punt blocks continue to mount at an already recording setting pace (seven of them through 10 games) as Mason continues to become a folk legend among Fighting Irish faithful.

Mason coaches with great flare and energy, and his players clearly respond to his energy.

"The more time you spend around Brian Mason the more you’ll appreciate his personality,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said of Mason this week. "I think if you spend just a little amount of time with him you might have a perception, one way or the other, for who you think he is. But he is extremely intelligent, extremely hard-working, he’s a great motivator. To see his growth as an individual and as a coach from 2011 until now has been tremendous. He continues to get better and better.”

Freeman had first-hand knowledge of Mason, going all the way back to Kent State in 2012 when Mason was breaking into the FBS coaching ranks as a graduate assistant and Freeman was a linebackers coach. They worked together at Purdue for a couple of years as well as at Cincinnati, where Freeman saw the special teams units Mason was forging.

"What he’s doing is he’s using his talents, his individual gifts and he’s able to get (these) units, not just one punt block unit, which has got the most notoriety right now, but all four special teams unit(s), including field goal and field goal block unit, he’s getting them to perform at a really high level,” Freeman said of Mason.

Mason’s special teams groups helped Cincinnati to a 13-0 record, becoming the first Group of Five team to ever make the College Football Playoff. The Bearcats led the nation with six blocked kicks, including three blocked punts.

He has taken the punt blocks to a new extreme this year with a nation leading (and Irish program record) seven blocks. The Irish have blocked punts in five straight games as well, going back to the Stanford game on Oct. 15.

"Everybody’s clamoring to get on that punt block unit,” Freeman joked this week. "Everybody wants a piece of that, now.”

If everybody wants a piece of that unit, it’s because of the priority Freeman and Mason have placed on winning, not just surviving, with special teams. The first-year head coach and his special teams coordinator placed a premium on the oft forgotten third phase of football from the minute he was hired to replace Brian Kelly.

"That was something that was important,” Freeman remarked. "The minute I became head coach, I wanted them to know that there was a huge importance from me of not only who’s on the special teams unit, but how I view special teams. I’m in every meeting. I’m involved in special teams, just because I want them to know how important it is. Every single meeting that we have on special teams, I’m going to be there and make sure that I can be a voice, I can be somebody when we’re on the practice field can make sure (I) coach guys and hold them accountable. Because it’s important.”

The fresh emphasis on special teams also means a slew of starters spread across the various units. Even potential first-round NFL draft picks like Isaiah Foskey have gotten in on the action. He made his impact with two blocks against UNLV and other starters have made their presence felt on special teams as well.

"Coach Mason, early in the year, I can’t remember when he did it, maybe the start of fall camp or spring, he showed, national championship teams, he showed College Football Playoff teams and the amount of starters they had on their teams,” Freeman explained. "We want to show our guys that the best teams in college football have a lot of their starters on special teams. So, it’s going to be important to us. Our starters are going to be on special teams and we want our best players on those units.”

Mason’s special teams units currently rank No. 12 in kickoff touchbacks, No. 22 in net punting (punter Jon Sot is No. 37 in punt average), No. 41 in punt returns, and they are also one of 42 teams in the nation that have not allowed a blocked kick this season.

"The beauty of a coach is coaches are evaluated off of how they can get their players to play and execute what they want,” Freeman said of his special teams coordinator. "Brian Mason can be the smartest guy in the room, but if his players aren’t playing at a high level, then it’s a waste.

"He’s a unique individual,” Freeman continued. "But he’s awesome. I love spending time with him and I love to see the growth he’s continuing to have as a football coach.”

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