Tom Mason
Tom Mason went 2–18 as a head coach, 1996–2014, at Boise State and SMU. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2014 at SMU. It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 2–18 career
- Seasons
- 2
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 1996 2–10
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Boise State coached 10 of 12 games | 1–9 | ||||
| 1997–13: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2014 | SMU * | 1–9 | T–10th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Conference games | 3 | 0–3 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| At home | 6 | 1–5 | 17% |
| On the road | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
His own 10 games on file, 1996, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Portland Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Arizona Stateseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Hawai’iseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| North Texasseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Utah Stateseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Eastern Washingtonseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Central Michiganseries | 1 | 0–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–80 | Walla Walla | Defensive line coach | |
| 1981–85 | Eastern Washington | Linebackers coach | |
| 1986–92 | Portland State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1993–96 | Boise State | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1996 | Boise State | Interim head coach | |
| 1997 | Northern Iowa | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1998 | Nevada | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1999 | Nevada | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2000 | Scottish Claymores NFL Europe | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2000 | BC Lions CFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2001 | Las Vegas Outlaws XFL | Linebackers coach | |
| 2001–07 | Fresno State | Linebackers coach | |
| 2008–14 | SMU | Defensive coordinator | |
| 2014 | SMU | Interim head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| 2015 | Hawaii | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2016–17 | UTEP | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| 2019 | Memphis Express AAF | Linebackers coach | |
| 2020 | Houston Roughnecks XFL | Linebackers coach | |
| 2022–24 | Central Michigan | Linebackers coach | |
| 2025 | Frankfurt Galaxy NFL Europe | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2026–present | Firenze Red Lions | Defensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Pokey AllenPortland State, Boise State
- Ardell WiegandtNorthern Iowa
- Mike DunbarNorthern Iowa
- Jeff TisdelNevada
- Jim CrinerScottish Claymores, Las Vegas Outlaws
- Pat HillFresno State
- June JonesSMU, Houston Roughnecks
- Tom MasonSMU
- Norm ChowHawai’i
- Chris NaeoleHawai’i
- Sean KuglerUTEP
- Mike PriceUTEP
- and 1 more
Worked under (13)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokey Allen | Portland State | 1986–92 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Pokey Allen | Boise State | 1993–96 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Ardell Wiegandt | Northern Iowa | 1997 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Dunbar | Northern Iowa | 1997 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Tisdel | Nevada | 1998–99 | 1998: defensive backs coach; 1999: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Jim Criner | Scottish Claymores pro | 2000 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Jim Criner | Las Vegas Outlaws pro | 2001 | Linebackers coach | |
| Pat Hill | Fresno State | 2001–07 | Linebackers coach | |
| June Jones | SMU | 2008–14 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Tom Mason | SMU | 2014 | Defensive coordinator | |
| Norm Chow | Hawai’i | 2015 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Chris Naeole | Hawai’i | 2015 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Sean Kugler | UTEP | 2016–17 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Mike Price | UTEP | 2017 | Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| June Jones | Houston Roughnecks pro | 2020 | Linebackers coach | |
| Jim McElwain | Central Michigan | 2022–24 | Linebackers coach |
Coached under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Ludwig | Boise State, 1996: quarterbacks coach | |
| Pete Kwiatkowski | Boise State, 1996: defensive backs, outside linebackers and defensive line coach | |
| Robert Anae | Boise State, 1996: offensive line coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | UTEP | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $72,378 | $202,135 USA Today | |
| 2016 | UTEP | defensive coordinatorbonuses up to $77,378 | $202,135 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.