parents to tell them the news.
Mason’s parents, John and Maggie, 
were at a business conference in 
Banff, Alberta when they found out 
their son was going to start. They 
had promised him that if he were 
starting, they would go to every 
game. They just didn’t know it was 
going to happen that quickly.
Against 
Appalachian 
State 
in 

September 
2014, 
Mason 
Cole 

became 
the 
first-ever 
true 

freshman at Michigan to start a 
season opener on the offensive line.
He was just plain good, and his 
coaches knew it. They couldn’t 
describe what made him better 
than the next guy, he just was.
Frey saw his potential from an 
early age. He recruited Mason 
when he was coaching at Indiana, 
and still remembers the day Mason 
turned down an offer to play for the 
Hoosiers. 
“He was special in high school,” 
Frey said. “When you went and 
watched him practice, there was 
something different. They call it 
the ‘it factor’ or whatever. He had 
it, and he has it.”
Perhaps it was his dependability 
— 
nobody 
could 
play 
more 

consistently. Harbaugh has said 
that Mason is a “standout” at all 
times. Mason’s dad called him a 
“Steady Eddie.”
It was one the reasons he was able 
to consider going pro.

***

At the meeting in Drevno’s office, 
they talked about Mason’s goals 
and how he would fit in in the NFL.
Mason was younger than a lot of 
the others entering the draft. He 
had never redshirted a season, and 
despite all of his experience, he was 
still young — just 20 years old at the 
time.
Another 
year 
under 
Harbaugh 

would add to his résumé, and 
staying for a fourth season could 
substantially help his career. After 
his junior year, he was projected 
to get drafted somewhere between 
the second and fourth rounds. With 
another season, he could maybe 
sneak into the first.
The NFL and all its money were 
attractive, but playing on the 
biggest stage as soon as possible 
didn’t matter to him. He didn’t 
want to pass up on the chance to 
graduate from school, a lesson he 
learned from his dad.
John’s 
mother 
— 
Mason’s 

grandmother — was the oldest of 
13 kids. Growing up, John had lots 
of extended family, but he was the 
first one to graduate from college. 
During John’s senior year of high 
school, his dad encouraged him to 
continue pursuing his education.
“You gotta go at least one year to try 
it,” he recalls his father saying.
Then John asked his father who 
was going to pay for college.
“Well, you are,” his father replied.

So he did. John enrolled at Northern 
Illinois, and worked each summer 
to make enough money to cover 
tuition. While his friends were out 
doing other things, John spent long 
summer hours hauling furniture 
for a moving company in Chicago. 
He earned his way through college, 
and moved forward in the business 
world. Six years after Mason was 
born, the Cole family moved south 
from Batavia, Ill. to Tarpon Springs, 
Fla. John and Maggie raised three 
kids, and Mason always noticed the 
hard work his parents were putting 
in.
Every day in high school, Mason 
woke up at 6:00 a.m. His dad would 
be up at the same time to get to 
work, and his mom would always 
have breakfast ready. After school, 
he’d go to football practice, and 
when that ended he would come 
home to another cooked meal from 
his mom. Mason had the whole 
house to himself, as his two older 
siblings had gone away to college 
while he was at East Lake High 
School.
“Golden child,” Mason says with 
a laugh. “Dinner would always be 
ready, and Mom would be the first 
one to put all my football laundry 
in the washer to get it ready for the 
next day.”
As he describes it, he was just 
like 
any 
other 
kid. 
He 
liked 

hanging out with his friends in 
the neighborhood, riding his bike 
around town and going to the 
beach. In the summer, he worked on 
the docks at the Homeport Marina 
in Palm Harbor, tying up boats and 
refueling tanks. He’d always come 
home with a pocket full of singles 
from the tips he had made.
And every fall Friday before a 
football game, his mom picked 
up the same turkey sub sandwich 
from the supermarket and brought 
it to him for lunch. It was a steady 
routine, and nothing too out of 
the ordinary, but it was just what 
Mason wanted.
He was a humble, hard-working 
kid, and it made him good at his job.
Whether he was paying for college 
by playing football — which he 
ended up doing — or paying for it 
through another job like his dad, 
he wanted to earn his way through 
life. He wanted to make his parents 
proud.

***

In Drevno’s office, Harbaugh sat 
down. Then he got back up. They 
talked about what Mason could do, 
and what he already had done, for 
the team.
With 37 consecutive starts over 
three years, Mason’s impact on 
Michigan football was easy to 
grasp. He was a two-time All-Big 
Ten honoree, with a second team 
award in 2016 and an honorable 
mention in 2015.
To start a true freshman at left 

tackle in the season opener sounded 
crazy, but with Mason it seemed 
like nothing short of necessary. 
Guarding the quarterback’s blind 
side is one of the most important 
roles on the field, but he established 
himself as the frontrunner from the 
moment he arrived.
He impressed the coaching staff 
with his abilities on the field, and 
his teammates took a liking to him 
as well.
He became close with the fellow 
Brady Hoke-holdovers like Patrick 
Kugler, Wilton Speight and Henry 
Poggi — guys that stuck with the 
program even when the team was 
losing. 
They’d 
fought 
together 

through 
the 
hard 
times 
their 

freshman year when the team went 
5-7, when their coach was fired and 
when they really asked themselves, 
‘How are we ever gonna be good?’
But those struggles brought them 
closer, and it motivated them. The 
program had been through so much 
in the time between his official 
recruiting visit and the meeting 
in Drevno’s office, but he never 
doubted it was right the place for 
him.
‘You should choose a school for the 
school’, Mason’s high school coach 
used to tell him. Regardless of who 
the coach was or would be, Mason 
felt like he was in a great place.
As he grew older, his coaches 
expected him to cultivate and 
sustain the environment he loved 
so much. 
Mason would host recruits when 
they came to visit. When offensive 
linemen Nolan Ulizio and Ben 
Bredeson arrived on each of their 
official visits, it was Mason’s 
responsibility to make sure they 
would want to return.
“Two-for-two on those,” Mason 
laughs.
The trust among Mason, his 
coaches and his teammates 
continued 
to 
grow. 
He 

developed as a mentor, and 
his whole team understood 
how big of an impact he 
was making.
Poggi 
once 
said 
that 

Mason was “so special 
for our program.”
Ulizio 
added: 

“Anything I need help 
with, I just go up to 
Mason and ask for 
advice.”
Mason was reliable off 
of the football field — 
just as much as he was 
on it.

***

And in Drevno’s office, they talked 
about making Mason a captain.
The coaches couldn’t guarantee 
it. Michigan football captains are 
elected by their teammates, but 
they gave him their full support. 
They all knew that Mason was next 
in line for the position, and the 

coaches told him that during the 
meeting.
Mason never tried to become 
a leader. He just did. With his 
success in high school and college, 
the role just came to him. At first, 
John and Mason weren’t sure they 
understood what being a captain 
entailed.
“I play offensive line. It’s not really 
a spotlight position to begin with,” 
Mason said. “But I think that’s one 
of the ways to be successful.”
Mason had made a career by staying 
under the radar. He made the right 
choices and never complained. He 
always kept 
a 
cool 

mind and 
showed 
up 

ready 
to 
work.
As 
he 

sat 
in 

that 
meeting 
in 

December, with Harbaugh, Drevno 
and his dad around him, Mason 
made his decision.
In eight months, he would start his 
final year of school. In eight months, 
he would start on Michigan’s 
offensive line for a fourth straight 
season. In eight months, he would 
hear his name in All-American 
discussions.
In eight months, he would be 
elected a captain for Michigan, text 
his parents, “Got it”, and call them 
later to hear how proud they were.
The meeting in Drevno’s office 
went on for about an hour and a 
half that day, as the four continued 

laying out what was best for 

Mason. Harbaugh gave him 

his assurance. No matter 

what 
Mason 
chose, 
he 

would have his coaches’ 
full support.
“But,” 
Harbaugh 
said, 

“we’d love to have you 
stay.”

5
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

