Mason Espinosa enters his fifth year as an assistant coach at Denison in 2020. After three seasons coaching wide receivers, Espinosa will mentor the quarterbacks for the second-straight season.
In 2019, The Big Red finished with an overall record of 8-2, marking the program's third, eight-win season since 2016. Over the last four seasons, Denison has gone 31-10 with two NCAC Championships and one NCAA Division III playoff appearance in 2018. Denison also added 16 All-NCAC selections in 2019, including 2019 NCAC Offensive Player of the Year, All-American, and Gagliardi Trophy Semifinalist, Alex Minton. In 2019, Miinton broke the single-season rushing record with 1,550 yards. The previous record of 1,517 yards was set by Clay Sampson in 1979. He also ended the regular season ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards, seventh in rushing touchdowns (18) and third in total touchdowns (21). Minton rushed for over 100 yards, seven times in 2019 and ended the season with a career-high 255 yards rushing against Kenyon marking the third-best single-game effort in school history.
The 2018 season was a breakthrough campaign for the Big Red. After finishing the regular season with an 8-2 record, Denison captured a share of its first North Coast Athletic Conference championship since 1986. Denison earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, marking the program's first playoff appearance in 33 years. Led by senior quarterback Canaan Gebele, the Denison offense set new program marks for points (437), points per game (39.7), touchdowns (60), first downs (262), total offense (5,000), all-purpose yards (5,974) and total plays (805).
Espinosa joined the Big Red coaching staff after two years as an assistant coach at Defiance College. Prior to that, Espinosa enjoyed a stellar four-year career as the starting quarterback at Ohio Wesleyan University.
From 2009-12, Espinosa started all 40 games at quarterback. As a senior in 2012, Espinosa was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was named to the Beyond Sports Network's All-American team. A four-time All-NCAC selection, Espinosa left OWU with 17 career, single-season, and single-game passing records. He ended his career with 11,072 passing yards, which ranks him amongst the best to have played NCAA Division III football. Entering the 2018 season, Espinosa is the NCAC record holder in total plays (1,836), total offense (10,839), passing attempts (1,617), completions (1,004) and passing yards (11,069).
Espinosa has played professionally since graduating from Ohio Wesleyan in 2013. Last season he was a member of the Albany Empire of the Arena Football League (AFL). Prior to the 2019 season, Espinosa played with the Professional Indoor Football League’s (PIFL) Erie Explosion and was a member of the Columbus (Georgia) Lions of the National Arena League. In 2018, Espinosa was named the NAL Offensive Player of the Year. He enters the 2019 season as the league's all-time leader in passing yards, total offense, passing touchdowns, and total offensive touchdowns. In 2016 he played for the Billings Wolves of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He has also partaken in various Pro Days with NFL teams, as well as, a minicamp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
