It was the summer of 2012 and Mitch Mason was laboring over an important career decision. Having served as associate pastor at a church in Clemson for three years and volunteering with the Tiger football team on various counseling and mentorship issues, Mason had been approached about a new opportunity at Carolina under new football coach Larry Fedora.
The idea of Mason going to work for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and being assigned to UNC as the football team chaplain was met with some skepticism among some of Mason's Clemson associates – most notably because of the agent/academic cloud that at the time had been hovering over Chapel Hill for two years.