The Wolverine went down a rabbit hole.
As Mason Bonner scrolled through his phone on Dec. 10, the earth began to shift beneath his feet. He committed to Michigan in May, the result of years of growth and hard work, and within seconds his dream was unraveling. Michigan fired coach Sherrone Moore for cause due to an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
What now? What next? Three schools called his Mullen High School coach within five minutes, asking if Bonner would reconsider.
“We were experiencing it in real time like everyone else, wondering, ‘Is this really happening?” said Lindsay Bonner, Mason’s mom. “Things did spin for 48 hours.”
It was during this chaos, with his future thrown into doubt, that Bonner exhibited the qualities that define him and his athletic journey: patience, humility and competitiveness.
“I was disappointed, upset about it. Kind of confused. Questioning, ‘Like seriously?’^” Bonner admitted earlier this week. “But I realized it is God’s plan. Once I talked to my family, coaches, and friends, I calmed down. And good things started to happen.”
The Wolverines hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on Dec. 26. Last Sunday, new tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham called, leaving Bonner firm in his decision. As long as the new staff wanted him — Whittingham coached the Broncos’ 6-foot-7 practice squad tight end Caleb Lohner in 2024 — he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I didn’t choose Michigan just for football. I chose it for the school,” Bonner said. “When I visited there last March, I made my mind up. It is a special place.”
Bonner shifts eyes when he walks into a room. He is 6-foot-7, 220 pounds. It is no wonder Texas Tech, Miami and Minnesota all relentlessly pursued him. After outgrowing the receiver position, Bonner became one of the top tight ends in the country as a senior.
He is longer than the last day of school, and equipped with vice-grip hands and body control that make him a menace on an option route and difficult to guard on the basketball court.
With dad Sed Bonner, an ex-NFL quarterback and Arena League Hall of Famer, and mom a former All-American soccer player at Nebraska, it is easy to trace the roots of Mason’s athleticism.
Connecting those dots also leads to flawed assumptions, that all lights turned green for Mason, that all he had to do was show up and dominate. That could not be further from the truth.
Bonner’s story is what is right about sports, which seem to become more soiled and corrupt by the minute.
He took the long view, listened to his parents, trusted his coaches, and accepted accountability for his development.
“He didn’t make any rash decisions,” Sed Bonner said. “And we got a phenomenal coach with an unbelievable track record of doing things the right way.”
Before Mason Bonner became a member of The Denver Post’s 2025 All-Colorado team after catching 47 passes for 767 yards and six touchdowns and posting five sacks as a defensive end, he was a gangly kid who tried everything from soccer to hoops to lacrosse.
In fifth grade, he started tackle football with a Dakota Ridge feeder team. He discovered an appetite for contact.
“The physicality, I just loved it,” Bonner said.
His dad, who trained quarterbacks long before running Mullen’s varsity offense, steered him under center. It was not a fit, though it has been for his younger brother Cam, an eighth-grader.
“Dad finally got his quarterback,” Mason said with a laugh. “I tried. I just did not rock with it.”
Bonner’s parents knew he was talented, but did him a favor. They never let him take the easy way.
Sed Bonner once paid $15 out of his own pocket for an Arena League tryout after playing four sports — football, basketball, volleyball, track — at Cal-State Northridge. And Lindsay became a decorated Cornhusker through discipline and attention to detail.
As an eighth grader, Mason Bonner played on B&B Basketball Academy’s B team. No excuses.
“Most families with a kid with his talent would not have taken that well. But they always supported the coaches,” B&B coach Michael Bahl said. “And if we got on him for body language after a missed shot, his dad would say, ‘Keep at it.’^”
There was a moment during that season in a meaningless game in a lonely high school gym that Bonner offered a glimpse of his potential, of his competitive spirit.
“He was having a tough day, and I told him his team needed him to step forward. And he looked me right at me and said, ‘Coach, I got you,’^” Bahl recalled. “He carried us the rest of the way. That’s when I knew there was something special to him.”
Jeremy Bennett has seen heady stuff from the 17-year-old countless times as the head football coach at Mullen. He describes Mason as the kid your father wants to date his daughter.
“He is good to everybody. I know people say that, but it’s true,” Bennett explained. “He has such gratitude. But he definitely wants to win.”
To talk to Bonner is to hear about embracing challenges, understanding focus — he plans to major in sports psychology after learning techniques to relax his mind before games — and channelling positive energy.
He chose Mullen for the class size and academics. He wanted to be part of turning around the football program, mirroring his own ascension from a raw athlete receiving offers from Washington State and Miami of Ohio as a sophomore into one of the state’s top recruits.
Yet, five games into last fall, the Mustangs were 1-4, and teetering.
“Our senior class reached the point where we knew we could not accept just being OK. Enough was enough,” said Bonner of a message that resonated with players like Owen Martin, Dante Dupuch, Amare Kyle, Kevin Lewis and Estevan Loya Jr. “We decided, ‘Let’s show everybody.’^”
The Mustangs went undefeated in league play and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time in a long time. Bonner was a central figure in creating a program back on the rise, but he never sought the spotlight.
“He does things that other players just can’t do,” Bennett said. “I had several college coaches come through and tell me, ‘You understand that this kid is going to play on Sundays for a lot of years.’ But you would never know it with Mason. He is so humble.”
Unburdened by his football commitment, Bonner has become a force in hoops this winter, averaging 20 points and 14.3 rebounds per game.
Those are the facts and numbers.
But the most striking thing about Bonner is not his size or statistics. It is the person. When he decided on Michigan, he called the other coaches and told them of his decision, not letting them learn through social media.
And when the check came for lunch during our interview, Bonner attempted to grab it.
It should surprise no one if he has success at Michigan and beyond.
He just gets it.
“We feel like our goal as parents, no matter what is going on in sports, is to build functional, proper adult men,” Lindsay said. “They are going to look people in the eye when they talk to them, show respect. He has grown up a lot through this process, with everything that has happened. And we will continue to encourage him on his path.”
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