But through all the awards and accomplishments, Mason said the most rewarding aspect of his time at MSU was running a clean ship during his career.

“To me the most important thing was to follow the rules and always do to the right thing,” Mason said. “I always did my best to represent the program and its followers in a positive way.”

“Hockey is just in my blood”

Growing up in Seaforth, Ontario, Mason became part of a Canadian culture that cherishes the game of hockey.

He was taught the “systems,” or strategies, of hockey at a young age and developed a love for the game by the time he was 10 years old.

Mason was a star forward at New York’s St. Lawrence University, where he lettered for three seasons and led his team in scoring for two consecutive years.

As Mason’s days of competing on the ice ended, he looked for a way to utilize his love for the game and expand his hockey knowledge.

While getting his master’s degree in physical education at the University of Pittsburgh, a new idea dawned on him – he wanted to start coaching.

“I never really gave coaching much thought until I was starting to get a little bit sick of school and I realized that hockey was one of the things I had based my life around,” Mason said. “Hockey is just in my blood.”

Mason applied for various coaching positions and found a job at Lake Superior State University, which was launching its first year of hockey at the school. Athletic director Ronald Cooper said he immediately knew Mason was the man for the job.

“Ron came in for an interview and we hit it off right away,” Cooper said. “There was no doubt in my mind that he was the guy that I wanted to bring in and build the program around.”

Mason started at Lake Superior State in 1966 and coached there for seven seasons. His 1972 team won the highest honor in their league, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship.

“He proved to be a really great decision for our program,” Cooper said. “He brought that competitive attitude every day and I’m happy with everything he did.”

After tallying four 20-win seasons and never losing more than 10 games in a season, Mason caught the eye of some more other universities.

In 1973, Mason accepted the head coaching position at Bowling Green State University.

At Bowling Green, Mason won three Central Collegiate Hockey Association, or CCHA, regular season titles and from 1977-79, he won three consecutive CCHA tournament titles.

After six seasons with Bowling Green, Mason decided to leave and take his coaching skills to a bigger stage – MSU.

The next 29 years were history.

Third time’s a charm

Mason’s third coaching gig was arguably his most impressive. He was hired by MSU in 1979 — a time in which the program was rapidly declining, having lost 36 of its 72 games during the three previous seasons.

But Mason was up for the challenge.

“I saw so much potential when I came to MSU,” Mason said. “My goal was to make MSU hockey a team that competed for national championships and was a national powerhouse year-in and year-out.”

Mason’s predecessor, Amo Bessone, who coached MSU from 1951-1979, knew the program he coached for 28 years would make a turnaround under Mason’s watch.

“Ron was a good hockey man and I knew he would be a good choice,” Bessone said. “He was a great coach. Wherever he went he had good records and did well.”

Throughout his 23 years on the bench, Mason led MSU to seven CCHA regular season titles, 10 CCHA tournaments, 21 NCAA tournaments, seven Frozen Four appearances, and the 1986 National Championship.

“We had good enough teams to win four or five national championships,” Mason said. “It was such a relief to get the one because if you never win it all, that will be a question you will be asked forever.”

Mason’s success emanated largely because of his ability to attract top prospects with his extensive knowledge of the game, said CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos, who played under Mason from 1981-85.

“He was a very smooth recruiter and got me excited to come to MSU,” he said. “At the time, MSU wasn’t a great hockey school but he sold me on his vision to be a nationally competitive program and it was a great offer because he gave guys a real opportunity to play.”

Mason inspired his Spartans to stick with the game of hockey. The encouragement paid dividends for more than 50 of his former players who turned professional or became coaches or athletic administrators.

Anastos, who’s been the CCHA Commissioner since 1998, credits Mason for expanding his knowledge of the game and urging him to stick with his passion.

“He was the best coach I’ve ever had,” he said. “ I learned more in one year about hockey from him than I had learned my whole life. He was the guiding force in the career path that I followed and a lot of what I’ve done in my career evolved from the things I’ve learned from him.”

In 2002, a new opportunity came Mason’s way: He was offered a job as MSU’s athletic director. Mason was forced to choose between sticking with the coaching position or taking a promotion that would put him front and center of the school’s myriad of athletic affairs. He chose the latter.

“Being an athletic director was something that I had always had in the back of my mind,” Mason said. “I really felt like I was the right guy at the right time for the position.”

Coaching changes

Mason assumed the duties of athletic director on July 1, 2002, and carried them for almost six years. Throughout the period, he made huge decisions to better both the athletic department and school.

One of the major tasks of an athletic director is to hire coaches, and Mason’s first task was to find someone to take over the reigns of the hockey program.

Mason knew exactly who he wanted to be his successor — a man who had both played and coached under him at Lake Superior State, Rick Comley.

Comley knew he had big shoes to fill, but felt he was confident he’d be able to utilize the skills he learned from Mason on the bench.

“Ron had such a passion for the game and a burning desire to win,” Comley said. “He was always so prepared and intense, and to this day, I’ve used some of things I learned from him.”

Many critics felt Comley wasn’t the right man for the job, but Mason was confident in his choice, and Comley lead the Spartans to the 2007 National Championship.

“Winning the championship was great for the fan base and the program,” Comley said. “But I took great pride in Ron’s happiness and it validated Ron’s choice of me as a coach.”

Mason’s next coaching decision was to fire football head coach Bobby Williams in 2002. Mason brought in former Louisville head coach John L. Smith to install his spread offense.

“Internally, John L. helped make things better for our football program,” Mason said. “But externally, it wasn’t good enough, and he wasn’t able to win enough games.”

In 2006, Mason fired Smith and spearheaded a search for the school’s next football coach.

Mason decided to hire former Cincinnati head coach Mark Dantonio, who was an assistant at MSU from 1995-99 under former head coach Nick Saban.

“When I met Mark I knew he was going to be a good fit,” Mason said. “I really believe that he is going to take MSU to the level that everyone expects it to be at.”

Transforming athletics

Mason’s background as a coach gave the athletic department, which supports more than 700 athletes and has a budget of more than $70 million, perspective it had previously lacked. Mark Hollis, who will replace Mason as MSU athletic director, credits Mason for bringing a coach’s mind-set to the table.

“Anytime a university brings an athletic director on board, they bring him in for a certain purpose,” Hollis said in a press release. “At the time Ron came in, there was attention that had to be given to a number of areas, and one of them was the connection back with coaches.”

Mason made sure all programs were treated equally in the ways they were recognized by the athletic department, he said.

“Coming from hockey, which wasn’t a huge sport at the time, I was really able to connect with the smaller and Olympic sports when I was athletic director,” Mason said. “I had a good understanding of their needs and wants and I had the opportunity to help them.”

Under Mason’s watch, MSU became the second largest fundraising school in the Big Ten, raising more than $24 million in the 2006 fiscal year. Mason used the revenue to implement renovation plans for three athletic facilities.

The first project was the $64 million expansion of Spartan Stadium in 2005 that added 3,000 seats, 24 suites and a 193-seat press box.

Mason’s second project was the expansion of the Duffy Daughtery Football Building, which will be completed this summer. The additions include new team and staff meeting rooms, coaches’ offices and a Hall of History to honor past MSU football stars.

Mason’s third major project is the Old College Field renovation, which will fund the construction of new stadiums for the baseball, softball and soccer teams.

Taking a step back

Mason says he doesn’t have many plans for the upcoming months other than to take some time off and unwind.

“It will be nice to sit back and relax and enjoy the time with my family,” Mason said. “I haven’t really had time to reflect on my time at MSU and I’m looking forward to having some time to do that.”

Mason’s legacy won’t be forgotten, and although he has houses in Ontario and Florida, he plans to keep close ties with MSU.

“I’m not planning on really staying here anymore,” Mason said.

“But I’ll be around for sporting events and things like that. There’s no way I can just completely leave a place like this.”