MARTIN, Tenn. – Ken Mason is coming home. One of the most respected names in collegiate rodeo and 1998 University of Tennessee at Martin graduate has been tabbed as the sixth head coach in the rodeo program’s storied history.
Mason will lead the Skyhawk men’s and women’s rodeo programs after a phenomenal 21-year run as head coach at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. The Vikings men’s team won College National Finals Rodeo reserve national championships twice (2010 and 2025) and has captured 15 Ozark Region titles – including each of the last 10 championships. His Missouri Valley women’s squad was 2016 reserve national champions at the CNFR and has nabbed four Ozark Region titles.
Mason earned National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and has been spotlighted as the Ozark Region’s Coach of the Year nine times.
“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Mason and his wife Kari back to where it all started at UT Martin,” Skyhawk Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Kurt McGuffin said. “I cannot envision a better candidate to take over the reins of our nationally renowned rodeo program. I truly believe Coach Mason is the best collegiate rodeo coach in the country – his career accolades and his reputation around the industry prove that. As proud UT Martin alums, the Masons are invested in the success of Skyhawk rodeo and we’re excited for the future.”
Leading the Missouri Valley program since 2005, Mason coached the Viking men’s team to seven top-five finishes at the CNFR while also leading the women’s squad to four top-10 CNFR placements (all since 2015). On three separate occasions, Missouri Valley boasted top-10 finishes by both its men’s and women’s teams in the same year – accomplishing that feat in 2015 (men third, women ninth), 2021 (women sixth, men seventh) and 2022 (men third, women ninth).
Mason’s Missouri Valley rosters have churned out numerous professionals over the years and has produced four national champions – including Ty Pope (2022 bareback riding), Kirbie Crouse (2016 breakaway roping), Timothy O’Connell (2015 bareback riding) and Tanner Aus (2012 bareback riding). In addition, the Vikings have accounted for six reserve national champions in Mason’s tenure with those titles coming in bareback riding (four times), all-around cowboy (once) and goat tying (once).
Mason competed in bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and team roping at UT Martin from 1995-97 under coaches Tony Coleman and George Mesimer (a current Skyhawk assistant) before serving as a graduate assistant under John Luthi in 1998. Mason was a two-time CNFR qualifier (1995, 1997) and brought home three Ozark Region championships (1995 bareback riding, 1995 all-around cowboy, 1997 bareback riding) as well as a 1995 reserve championship in saddle bronc riding.
“I’d like to thank Kurt McGuffin as well as our Chancellor Dr. Yancy Freeman for this opportunity to coach at my alma mater,” Mason said. “I’m proud of what we have built at Missouri Valley and it was going to take a special situation for me to move on. To carry on the legacy that Doc Robinson, Tony Coleman, George Mesimer, John Luthi, Chase Thrasher and many others has built was too good to pass up. UT Martin has always been a special place for our family and we can’t wait to get started this summer.”
A Russell, Iowa native, Mason transferred to UT Martin after competing for Luthi at Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kan. At the high school level, Mason won the Iowa state championship in bareback riding in 1991 and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in both bareback riding and saddle bronc riding in three consecutive years (1989-91).
Mason was a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and also qualified for the Great Lakes Circuit Finals. He was inducted into the UT Martin Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Iowa High School Rodeo Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Mason graduated from UT Martin with a degree in agricultural business. He is married to the former Kari Swarthout – who has served as an assistant coach at Missouri Valley since 2006 – also graduated from UT Martin in 1998 as the couple has two daughters, Sydnee and Taylor.
Mason will officially start at UT Martin on July 1, taking over a Skyhawk program that won the 2014 men’s national championship and has generated nine individual national champions. UT Martin has made 47 CNFR men’s team appearances in 52 years since joining the NIRA ranks in 1973, combining for overall 38 Ozark Region championships (32 men’s, six women’s) in that span. A formal public introduction to welcome Coach Mason and his family back to campus will take place later this summer with more details to follow.
