Special Teams Coordinator Brian Mason Leaving Notre Dame for the Indianapolis Colts

According to sources, Irish Illustrated’s Tim Prister, Tim O’Malley  and 247Sports’ Tom Loy have learned that special teams coordinator Brian Mason is leaving the University of Notre Dame for the same role with the Indianapolis Colts. This is a tough loss for the Fighting Irish under head coach Marcus Freeman, as Mason was a Broyles Award finalist and the nation’s premier special teams coach during the 2022-23 football season.

In one year, Mason transformed the special teams unit and made Notre Dame one of the strongest position groups in all of college football. An argument could be made that Mason should have actually won the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the top coordinator in all of college football. That’s how terrific his group was in South Bend. Mason revamped the group, they became extremely aggressive, became a punt block machine and were polished each and every week.

The Colts are getting a tremendous leader in Mason, who is originally from Zionsville, Ind. This homecoming, of sort, is an exciting and well-deserved opportunity for Mason, who will now put his talent on display on football’s biggest stage.

It is worth noting, as it relates to salary, that a source has informed Tim Prister that it will be the same with the Colts as he was making at Notre Dame. This is a dream job for the Indianapolis-area native and has never been about money for Mason. Again, this is a tremendous opportunity.

Stay locked to Irish Illustrated for more on Mason’s replacement and the direction we believe Freeman will go. That said, we do believe current Ole Miss special teams coordinator Marty Biagi is a name to watch. He was in the running when Mason was initially hired and would be an excellent addition to the Notre Dame football program.

THE MASON FILE

Hometown: Zionsville, IndianaHigh School: Zionsville Community High SchoolCollege: Denison (2009, B.A.), Bluffton (2012, M.A.), Purdue (2014, M.S.), Ohio State (2016, M.S.)Wife: RachelChildren: Sons – Graham and Noah

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

2005-06 Denison Running Back

COACHING CAREER

2006-07 Denison Student Assistant2009-11 Bluffton Defensive Line2012 Kent State Graduate Assistant2013-14 Purdue Graduate Assistant2015-16 Ohio State Graduate Assistant2017 Cincinnati Director of Recruiting2018-21 Cincinnati Special Teams Coordinator2022- Notre Dame Special Teams Coordinator

BOWLS COACHED IN

2012 Kent State (GoDaddy.com)2015 Ohio State (Fiesta)2016 Ohio State (Fiesta – CFP Semifinal)2018 Cincinnati (Military)2019 Cincinnati (Birmingham)2020 Cincinnati (Peach)2021 Cincinnati (Cotton – CFP Semifinal)

PERSONAL INFORMATION

He spent two seasons as a running back at Denison before an injury forced him into coaching and he spent his final two seasons in Granville as a student coach.

Graduated from Denison in 2009 with degrees economics and history. Earned a master’s degree in education from Bluffton in 2012, a master’s degree in recreation and sport management from Purdue in 2014 and master’s degree in kinesiology, sport management from Ohio State in 2016.

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Entering his first season at Notre Dame after being hired in January of 2022.

Spent the previous five seasons at Cincinnati, he was the Special Teams Coordinator from 2018-21 and was the Director of Recruiting in 2017.

He was named a finalist for 2021 Special Teams Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com.

Mason’s units were key to Cincinnati recording the first 13-0 mark in school history in 2021, as the Bearcats won a second-consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff Semifinals at the Cotton Bowl.

In 2021, UC tied for the most blocked kicks in the nation with six, while ranking seventh in the country with three blocked punts.

Also in 2021, UC ranked first in the AAC and No. 3 in the nation in punt return defense (1.53) and No. 2 in the AAC and No. 22 overall in net punting (41.7).

In 2020, Cincinnati finished 9-1, won the AAC Championship and played in the Peach Bowl – UC’s first New Year’s Six Bowl since 2009.

The Bearcats finished atop the 2019 AAC ranks in scoring defense for the second-straight season and ranked among the league’s top three in rushing and total defense.

In 2018, the UC defense led the American in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense and ranked among the Top-15 in the NCAA FBS in all three categories.

Punter James Smith, a three-time All-American Athletic Conference selection, was a finalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2018 and also earned spots on two All-America squads.

UC led the American Conference and finished second in the NCAA FBS in net punting.

In addition to his on-field success with the Bearcats, Mason oversaw a recruiting operation which helped UC sign two-consecutive highly-rated recruiting classes ranked at the top of the American Athletic Conference.

In his recruiting role, Mason oversaw the day-to-day operations of the recruiting program including database management, organizing all official and unofficial visits, coordinating special events associated with recruiting, managing the current roster and recruiting budgets as well as administering all recruiting paperwork including transcripts and scholarship documents.

Prior to joining the UC staff in 2017, Mason spent eight years coaching at Ohio State, Purdue, Kent State and Bluffton.

He came to UC after two years at Ohio State as a graduate assistant coach, where he worked with the Buckeyes’ linebackers during the 2015 and 2016 campaigns.

Mason held positions at Bluffton (2009-11), Kent State (2012) and the 2013 and 2014 seasons as a graduate assistant coach on Darrell Hazell’s staff at Purdue University. He also worked with Hazel at Kent State.