Aug 27, 2021
Maier’s hunger to succeed serving him well with Stamps
Former CFL coach Dan Hawkins pointed Jake Maier towards the three-down game during his college career with the UC Davis Aggies. Now Calgary is seeing the poise and leadership Maier has been known for since his high school days, Salim Valji writes.
By Salim Valji
In 2017, the University of California, Davis Aggies of the NCAA’s Big Sky Conference had both a new head coach and changing of the guard at quarterback.
Dan Hawkins, who played for the Aggies in the early 1980s and briefly coached the Montreal Alouettes in 2013, was tasked with running his alma mater – and figuring out who the team’s new signal caller would be after senior Ben Scott graduated.
It didn’t take Hawkins long to tab a relatively unknown 20-year-old transfer from Long Beach State College named Jake Maier as the Aggies’ new leader.
From the beginning, Hawkins was impressed by Maier’s preparation, poise, and leadership. While the Aggies finished with a 5-6 record, the young Maier rewarded Hawkins’ faith by passing for 3,669 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Hawkins recalled a play during a game where Maier made a tough throw to a receiver well before any defender knew the pass was coming. On the sidelines, Hawkins asked Maier how he executed the sequence.
“‘Coach,’” Hawkins remembers Maier responding. “That’s all summer [prep work].’”
Hawkins mentioned to Maier that he could potentially flourish in the three-down game. Following the 2017 season, Hawkins reached out to another pivot he once mentored, current Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, who was coaching quarterbacks with the Calgary Stampeders at the time.
Dinwiddie let Stampeders management know. They added Maier to their list in 2018 and signed him in May of 2020.
“I told [Dinwiddie], ‘Hey, you’d better put this kid on your [negotiation] list cause he’s legit,’” Hawkins said. “He’s got the ‘it’ factor. He has what I call the ‘rage to master.’”
That “it” factor was Maier’s hunger to succeed and his dedication to the craft.
“I’ll bet that during the whole two-year COVID period, there were very few days that he did not work out,” Hawkins said. “He’s just that kind of kid.”
Maier says he appreciated Hawkins’ advice to consider a career in Canadian football.
“I was flattered,” Maier said. “He’s a huge reason why I became so interested in being a CFL quarterback.”
Maier would go on to start three seasons with the Aggies, setting school records for passing yards (11,163), attempts (1,495) and completions (992) and ranking second in career passing touchdowns (88).
In 2018 he led the team to a 10-3 record, tied for first place in the Big Sky Conference.
“He had a certain presence about him that you knew he was there to get the job done,” Khris Vaughn, the Aggies’ No. 1 wide receiver in 2019, said. “It wasn’t, ‘Hey guys, let’s all be friends.’ It was like, ‘Let’s get in here and work.’ Immediately meeting Jake, that’s something I noticed.”
“He was the epitome of a professional,” said Aggies wide receiver Jared Harrell. “He always carried himself with a business type of mentality. For me, that was really inspiring to see, that he came to work every day. Every rep mattered to him.”
Maier was not afraid to hold teammates accountable. During a game, Vaughn had mistimed a route – and the quarterback let him know.
“He just gave me this look,” Vaughn laughed. “It wasn’t like he was upset, but it was like, ‘Come on K. We worked through this. Let’s get it together.’”
Harrell and Vaughn are both still Aggies and watched Maier’s CFL debut, where he completed 16 of 29 passes for a touchdown, two interceptions, and 304 yards in Calgary’s 28-22 win over the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 20.
Maier’s preparation and work ethic were even on display in high school. He was a captain for his junior and senior years at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., passing for more than 1,200 yards in his senior season while also starring for the baseball team.
“We’re not surprised by his success,” St. Paul coach Rick Zepeda said. “He’s a Drew Brees-type of quarterback. He’s got that poise. You sometimes shake your head and think, ‘How is this guy doing that?’”
Maier has continued to exude that leadership and poise early on in his CFL career. With reporters, he invokes his work beyond the field and staying in the moment.
“I believe that the quarterback should be even-keeled and not get rattled by anything because that rubs off on your teammates,” Maier said. “If you’re playing in a hostile environment or even in front of your home crowd, you have to be able to just control your emotions and not get too high or too low. That’s something I take a lot of pride in and that’s something my mom and dad taught me as a little boy.”
That preparation and confidence will be on display as the Stampeders attempt to keep pace in the West Division without star pivot Bo Levi Mitchell, who remains on the six-game injured list.
It’s a test Maier’s former coaches and teammates feel he’ll pass with flying colours. They also believe he’s destined for a long future in the CFL.
“He’s always thinking of how he’s going to make the next day or night successful,” Zepeda said.
“He gives you a certain look when it’s go time, like, ‘You’ve got to turn it on and be your best,’” Vaughn added. “That’s Jake.”