December 16, 2025

NLA: Zim on Mason staying at SDSU, his pro prospects vs Gronowski, DeBoer staying at Alabama, SDSU '26 outlook, McCarthy deserves Vikings' patience

1 hour 12 minutes

They just can't believe it. To some — especially college football fans outside of South Dakota and the FCS — it just doesn't make any sense. Why would 6'4, 230 lb., bodybuilder-framed, rocket-armed, runaway freight train fast Chase Mason stay at South Dakota State for his final season of college eligibility when he has already been offered over $1 million to play at least one Power Four school (according to his SDSU head coach)? Beyond the life-changing money, Mason could potentially raise his NFL stock — and there is plenty, according to NFL scouts Mason and Dan Jackson converse — by playing against the highest level of CFB competition in front of 70,000-plus seat stadiums and millions of weekly national TV viewers. NFL stock aside, just the P4 QB1 experience alone appears intoxicating and once-in-a-lifetime, as one of Mason's former teammates Mark Gronowski made it appear at times at Iowa after leaving SDSU for a reported $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. Mason made it clear in his 68-minute chat with Happy Hour on Monday — "never in a million years" did he consider transferring, and no prospects of seven figure NIL dough will change his mind and convince him to enter the CFB portal, which will be open Jan. 2-16. The former Viborg-Hurley state champion quarterback, FBS-offered, and University of Nebraska baseball player said NFL scouts have told Jackson that he does not need to play at a higher level in 2026 to raise his stock. But more than anything, Mason cited over and over again during the Monday chat that, to him, nothing compares to the culture and "brotherhood" he experiences at SDSU and he doesn't want to discover the downsides to exploring if the grass is greener beyond the Benjamins at a big-league school. Again, some wonder — there has to be a catch, right? Perhaps he isn't worth mondo money and knows it and he actually doesn't have any higher-level interest. Perhaps anyone who claims he is a legitimate NFL QB prospect is either overblowing that notion or flat-out lying. Listening to Mason's entire Happy Hour chat could clear some confusion, but for good measure, Tuesday's show features the Sioux Falls Live sports reporter who has covered Mason closer than anyone the last seven years back to his high school days. Matt Zimmer helps the Twitter keyboard warriors and fans of other fan bases make sense of all the Mason-is-staying hype from the last 24 hours. In particular, Zim revisits Mason's past and why he transferred from Nebraska to SDSU and changed sports in the first place four years ago. NFL? There's a Jackrabbit track record of the last decade that's beyond decent. There's a comparison between Gronowski and Mason regarding their NFL stock that Zim finds worth noting. And now that Mason is coming back, should we project SDSU to take a leap back to the status of the FCS elite after a 9-5 season that ended in the second round? What kind of talent can we assume is coming back to surround Mason to make a national championship run in 2026? (After all, the portal window isn't open until Jan. 2-16, so nobody really knows which 2025 Jacks besides Mason are going to stay). Zim lays out his current outlook and explains why Jackson is looking more to the Div. II and NAIA ranks than the FBS for transfers to fill positions of need. Speaking of South Dakotans announcing they are staying in their powerhouse programs, Zim dives into Kalen DeBoer's remaining the coach at Alabama despite being a floated name in the media as a candidate at Michigan and Penn State. Why is Alabama — as hot as the seat appears to be sometimes — a better gig for DeBoer than the jobs in Ann Arbor and Happy Valley? Then, some words about the 7-6 start for SDSU men's hoops, which included Monday's 87-72 loss to Wyoming. Does this feel like a "down" year without a clear Summit League star like Oscar Cluff, O.J. Mayo, Baylor Scheierman, David Jenkins, or Mike Daum? Finally, the wild and turbulent J.J. McCarthy Experience continued its late season upswing on Sunday night with the Minnesota Vikings' 34-26 win in Dallas. Count Zim not in the camp of Vikings fans hoping McCarthy continues to be the flop he appeared to be in his first several NFL starts, all in hopes of the team moving on from "9" after the season. Hear why.

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