Staff Directory

Ken Mason

Title:
Head Coach

One of the most respected names in collegiate rodeo, Ken Mason returned to his alma mater to serve as the sixth head rodeo coach in University of Tennessee at Martin history on July 1, 2026.

The 1998 Skyhawk graduate was tabbed to lead the UT Martin 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 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.

Leading the Missouri Valley program from 2005-26, Mason coached the Viking men's team to eight top-five finishes at the CNFR while also leading the women's squad to five top-10 CNFR placements (all since 2015). On four 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), 2022 (men third, women ninth) and 2026 (men fourth, women 10th).

Mason's Missouri Valley rosters churned out numerous professionals over the years and produced five individual national champions – including Kooper Heimburg (2026 bareback riding), 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 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.

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, a 1998 Skyhawk alum who is serving as UT Martin's assistant coach after serving in the same role at Missouri Valley from 2006-26. The couple has two daughters, Sydnee and Taylor.