MSU hockey head coach Ron Mason will announce today that he’ll become the university’s 16th athletics director, ending a 23-year tenure at the helm of the hockey program.
MSU President M. Peter McPherson will recommend Mason, 62, for the position at 10:30 a.m. today during a press conference at the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center. The MSU Board of Trustees is expected to approve Mason at its Feb. 13 meeting.
University officials released McPherson’s choice Saturday night as the hockey team routed Ohio State 5-1.
“It became clear to everyone that this was the best choice,” MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said.
Mason, college hockey’s all-time winningest head coach, will succeed athletics director Clarence Underwood, who will retire on June 30 after holding the position since 1999.
Mason wasn’t MSU’s only internal candidate. He was chosen over associate athletics directors Mark Hollis and Greg Ianni.
Before picking Mason, MSU hired global executive search company Spencer Stuart to aid its search in June.
An internal candidate who has a good relationship with the MSU community is the best person for the job, MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson said.
“He doesn’t need to wear a name tag when he starts his job,” Ferguson said. “Everyone knows his name and he knows everyone, too. He’s just part of the community.”
Both Hollis and Ianni graduated from MSU with more than five years experience in the athletics department.
Mason received a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University in New York in 1964. He lettered for three years in hockey. He later earned his master’s from Pittsburgh.
Mason said he would accept the position, but declined to comment further until today’s press conference.
“I want a little time myself to think about it,” he said Saturday night. “I know what I’m going into. It’s just there are a lot of different kinds of questions. They’re the kinds of questions that have to be asked and they have to be answered” after the formal announcement
Mason brought home the Spartan’s second national championship in 1986 and won the Spencer Penrose Award as the national coach of the year in 1992. After 36 years as a head coach, Mason is 916-376-81 while compiling a 627-266-67 record at MSU.
After Mason recorded his 900th win in October, the MSU Board of Trustees approved a 13 percent raise to increase his annual salary to $173,215 and extended his contract through 2005.
The program had three straight losing seasons before Mason took over, and hasn’t yielded a losing season since his second season as head coach.
“Look what he built,” Ferguson said. “He’s starting off in even better shape, he’ll make this thing go through the roof. He’s aware of new things that have to be done, he’s an innovator.”
MSU Trustee Robert Weiss said with hockey ranking below top-revenue sports in football and basketball, Mason will understand smaller programs.
“It’s a revenue sport,” Weiss said. “But he’ll be able to relate and know the difficulties (nonrevenue sports) have, and he’ll be very helpful.”
Weiss and Ferguson both said the hockey program won’t miss a beat.
Unlike most coaches who resign or retire, Mason will not only appoint the next coach, but he’ll be around to make sure his transition is smooth, Ferguson said.
“Ron Mason knows what he’s looking for in a coach,” Ferguson said. “That’s a gift, that’s as good as it gets - he gets to pick his successor.”
