Frank A. Mason
{{Short description|American football player, coach, and attorney (1862–1940)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Frank A. Mason
| image = Frank Atlee Mason (1862–1940), c. 1909.png
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1862|4|12}}
| birth_place = Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|6|29|1862|4|12}}
| death_place = Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| player_years1 = 1881–1884
| player_team1 = Harvard
| player_positions = Quarterback
| coach_years1 = 1886
| coach_team1 = Harvard
| coach_years2 = 1907
| coach_team2 = Ole Miss
| overall_record = 12–8
| bowl_record =
| tournament_record =
| championships =
| awards =
| coaching_records =
}}
Frank Atlee Mason (April 12, 1862 – June 29, 1940) was an American college football coach and an attorney. He was the first full-time football coach at Harvard University.
Early life
File:Frank Atlee Mason (1862–1940), c. 1884.png
Mason was born on April 12, 1862, in Newton, Massachusetts, to David H. Mason and Sarah Wilson White.{{cite journal|last=Seward|first=Josiah Lafayette|title=Family of John Mason|journal=A History of the Town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917|year=1921|volume= 2|pages=1128–1131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWIjAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1130|access-date=October 13, 2011}} He attended Harvard University and played on the school's baseball and football teams.{{cite book|title=The Harvard Crimson, 1873-1906|year=1906|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|location=Cambridge, MA|pages=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQUdAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA60}} In football, he played quarterback and excelled at the quarterback kick. He graduated from Harvard in 1884 and later attended Harvard Law School and Boston University School of Law.{{cite news|title=F. A. Mason is Dead, First Harvard Coach; Earliest Official Football Mentor, a Lawyer, Was 78|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 30, 1940|page=32|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/06/30/98354373.pdf|url-access=subscription|access-date=October 8, 2021}}
Coaching career
In the fall of 1886, Mason was named Harvard's head football coach by team captain William A. Brooks. This was the first time in school history that the football team had a full-time head coach (Lucius Littauer coached on several occasions in 1881, but did not coach the team full-time). The Crimson went 12–2 under Mason, but returned to coaching by captains the next season.{{cite web|title=Media Center: Harvard Crimson Football - All-Time Coaching Records|url=http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/history/Football_All-Time_Coaching_Records_Media_Center|work=Harvard|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=October 14, 2011|archive-date=April 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407030723/http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/history/Football_All-Time_Coaching_Records_Media_Center|url-status=dead}}
In 1907, Mason returned to coaching at Ole Miss.{{cite news|title=Bid For Honors by Mississippi|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|date=August 26, 1907}} In Mason's only season as head coach, Ole Miss went 0–6.{{cite web|title=Frank Mason |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/frank-mason-1.html |work=SR/College Football |publisher=Sports Reference LLC. |access-date=October 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113122306/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/frank-mason-1.html |archive-date=November 13, 2012 }} In what would be his final game as head coach, Ole Miss faced rival Mississippi A&M on a cold, wet Thanksgiving Day. Before the second half began, Mason brought out an urn filled with whisky-laced coffee in an attempt to warm his players.{{cite book|title=The Egg Bowl: Mississippi State Vs. Ole Miss|year=2010|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|location=Oxford, MS|isbn=9781604738322|pages=26–27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54L0Bv-uNVgC&pg=PA26|author1=William G. Barner|author2=Danny McKenzie|access-date=October 16, 2011}}{{cite book|title=Football Hall of Shame|year=1991|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York City|isbn=9780671745516|page=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaD_is-geogC&pg=PT51|author1=Bruce Nash|author2=Allan Zullo|access-date=October 16, 2011}}{{cite book|last=Conner|first=Floyd|title=Football's Most Wanted|year=2000|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=9781574883091|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2j_Fr_2FiwYC&pg=PT106}} Sloppy second-half play resulted in a 15 to 0 Ole Miss loss. After the game, many of the players blamed Mason for the loss and when asked if the team was returning home that night, Mason was quoted as saying "Yes, the team is going north at 11 o'clock. I'm going in another direction, and hope I never see them again!"
Legal career
In 1888 Mason was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar. He had a law office at 31 Milk Street in Boston, where he practiced probate and conveyancing. From 1900 until his retirement in 1933 he was the legal counsel for Newton Savings Bank.
Personal life
Mason was the son of David H. Mason, an attorney and politician who served on the Massachusetts Board of Education, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and later as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. One of Mason's brothers was Edward Haven Mason, an attorney and philatelist. Mason was a direct descendant of John Winthrop.
Mason married Lilian Balch on October 6, 1897. They had two daughters, Mabel and Eleanor.
Head coaching record
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Harvard Crimson
| conf = Independent
| startyear = 1886
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1886
| name = Harvard
| overall = 12–2
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Harvard
| overall = 12–2
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Ole Miss Rebels
| conf = Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
| startyear = 1907
| endyear = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1907
| name = Ole Miss
| overall = 0–6
| conference = 0–5
| confstanding = 15th
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Ole Miss
| overall = 0–6
| confrecord = 0–5
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
| legend = no
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Harvard Crimson quarterback navbox}}
{{Harvard Crimson football coach navbox}}
{{Ole Miss Rebels football coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Frank A.}}
Category:19th-century players of American football
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:Harvard Crimson baseball players
Category:Harvard Crimson football coaches
Category:Harvard Crimson football players
Category:Ole Miss Rebels football coaches
Category:Boston University School of Law alumni
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:Massachusetts lawyers
Category:Sportspeople from Newton, Massachusetts
Category:Players of American football from Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Category:Coaches of American football from Massachusetts
Category:Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts