Frank A. Mason

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

Mason was born on April 12, 1862, in Newton, Massachusetts, to David H. Mason and Sarah Wilson White. He attended Harvard University and played on the school's baseball and football teams. 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.

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).

In 1907, Mason returned to coaching at Ole Miss. In Mason's only season as head coach, Ole Miss went 0–6. 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. 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!" bowls = no poll = no polltype = legend = no