Notre Dame Football: Brian Mason a home run hire for the Irish
By Sean Smith
The Notre Dame football team got a home run of a hire in Brian Mason, who joins Marcus Freeman’s staff as special teams coordinator.
Cincinnati special teams coordinator Brian Mason will join the staff of the Notre Dame football team in the same role. He replaces former special teams coordinator Brian Polian, who left Notre Dame to follow Brian Kelly at LSU.
Over the last decade, Notre Dame has taken a plethora of coaches from the Bearcats, including Brian Kelly, Marcus Freeman, and now Brian Mason. The Irish and Marcus Freeman will rely heavily on Mason, who is a fantastic recruiter, and will look to continue the success that Notre Dame has had over the last few years.
The hire makes sense as Freeman and Mason both coached together at Cincinnati.
New Notre Dame football ST Coach Brian Mason Coaching Career:
- 2007-2008 Student Assistant Denison
- 2009-2011 Graduate Defensive Line Coach Bluffton
- 2012 Graduate Assistant Kent State
- 2013-2014 Graduate Assistant Purdue
- 2015-2016 Graduate Assistant Ohio State
- 2017 Director of Recruiting Cincinnati
- 2018- 2021 Special Teams Coordinator Cincinnati
- 2022 Special Teams Coordinator Notre Dame
Notre Dame will have Freshman (redshirt) Kicker Josh Bryan and true freshman Punter Bryce McFerson take over the kicking duties, as they lost two experienced special team players in punter Jay Bramblett and kicker Jonathan Doerer. Brian Mason will have a great opportunity to develop and coach these young players into star special team performers.
Marcus Freeman has not been afraid to make some staff changes heading into his first year as Head Coach. He has some big decisions moving forward when it comes to finding the right fit to coach and develop his players.
However, Brian Mason fits the script and will look to bring the success he had for the Bearcats over to the Fighting Irish. Freeman still has coaching openings at Defensive Coordinator, Wide Receiver Coach, and Offensive Line Coach.
He will have to make sure he makes homerun hires at those respective openings if he wants to keep Notre Dame Football elite, and if he wants to have a successful start to his young career. Hiring Brian Mason is just the start to a successful offseason for the Irish.