Longtime Wisconsin assistant football coach Henry Mason dies

Longtime University of Wisconsin assistant football coach Henry Mason has died.

The Wisconsin football account on X confirmed his passing with a post shortly before 8 p.m. April 11.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Henry Mason," the post said. "He was a staple of our program for nearly 30 years, as an assistant coach and liaison to NFL teams and high school coaches. A friend and mentor to so many, we’re grateful for our time with him and our thoughts are with his family."

Mason began coaching in 1979 as an assistant at Lexington High School in Missouri for two seasons. He then served as an assistant at Baker University in Kansas for the 1981 season and served as head coach for Smith-Cotton High School in Missouri from 1982-90. He also coached wide receivers at Western Michigan from 1991-94.

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Mason served as Wisconsin’s wide receivers coach from 1995-2007 before sustaining an injury that prevented him from coaching, according to his bio on uwbadgers.com. He was a member of the Badgers’ football support staff for 11 seasons, where he served as director of student-athlete engagement and outreach.

Mason's bio also said he was a member of the Diversity Integration Group in UW Athletics and worked to further diverse relationships on campus, in the community and with the Black Coaches Association.

He was liaison with the WIAA, AFCA, W Club and UW Foundation and worked to coordinate development efforts with the Athletic Development office for pro athletes and football alumni, according to his UW bio.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Longtime Wisconsin assistant football coach Henry Mason dies