CALGARY – Jason Maas’ time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders ended with him being fired as the offensive co-ordinator after the team finished the 2022 season with a 6-12 record.
Considering that unspectacular conclusion, a lateral move or even a step back wouldn’t have been surprising.
But Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia felt it made no sense to judge someone when they’re at their lowest.
“I felt strongly about it,” Maciocia said. “Just because your experiences haven’t been favourable at another venue, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have the qualifications to be successful.”
Maciocia’s faith in Maas has paid off. The Alouettes are set to compete in their third Grey Cup game in four seasons on Sunday when they face the Edmonton Elks in Calgary.
Maas has been the driving force behind that success.
“The proof speaks for itself,” Alouettes linebacker Tyrice Beverette said. “Ever since he got here, we hit the ground running. It’s something like I’ve never seen.”
There’s another world in which Maas’ hire could have gone another direction entirely.
It wasn’t just that the Riders struggled to move the ball and put points on the board late in that 2022 campaign. Maas’ longstanding modus operandi was throwing headsets and flipping over water coolers on the sidelines when his frustration reaching a boiling point.
His heightened emotions made an already tough season that much more difficult.
Maciocia always felt he and Maas were on the same page from a football standpoint. The anger needed to be addressed.
“Any time you’re let go from an organization, you do some inner soul-searching and think about some things you can improve on,” Maas said. “I do, definitely, have times where I have an emotional side of me where I can get out of control. As a head coach, I wanted to be able to control that better.”
One of the first things Maas did when he arrived in Montreal was show players clips of his past transgressions. He told his charges to call him out if he ever slipped up. They’re still waiting.
“Honestly, I haven’t seen him do that yet,” Beverette said. “He knew it was his problem and he fixed it. As players, we respect him because it wasn’t just saying; he was doing.”
“That’s the true sign of a leader,” Als quarterback Davis Alexander added. “You can tell he’s calmed down way more.”
The Alouettes have had great players during Maas’ four seasons to be sure. Cody Fajardo, now Edmonton’s quarterback, led the team to a Grey Cup in 2023. Alexander succeeded Fajardo was the Most Outstanding Player this season, while Tyson Philpot re-wrote the record book for a Canadian receiver. That’s just on offence.
But it’s Maas’ ability to relate to all his players – on both sides of the ball – communicate the standards, and raise the expectations have made him someone the players gravitate toward.
In that way, he’s much like he was when he was a star quarterback in the CFL in the early 2000s.
“I love more that he expects for difficult things to happen,” Alexander said. “He pushes me to be the best quarterback and leader I can be. He’s as hard on me as anyone ever has been before. I appreciate that so much. I wouldn’t want that to be different.”
Maas has made the Alouettes the team to which others aspire.
They won the Grey Cup in his first season with the team in 2023. They lost to the Riders last season. They’re back here again.
For Montreal native and Als linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, he’s noticed a buzz around the team not evident since the Anthony Calvillo glory years. He attributes that to Maas’ stewardship.
“When I got there in ’24, I felt this from my city for the first time in a long time,” he said. “He’s been able to maintain that.”
Of course, that probably doesn’t happen without a change in approach.
“If you’re going to lead people, you need to be in a good frame of mind to do that and be at your best,” Maas said. “I’ve tried to make those strides. I’m thankful that I work with a man like Danny, who believes in me and has given me the opportunity to grow and do what I do.”
The players have seen that good frame of mind on a daily basis.
“He never lets anything affect him past one play,” defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund said. “It’s a very hard characteristic to have.
“Jason Maas is always the same person. You don’t know if it’s a bad day or a good day or a great day. Jason Maas is always Jason Maas. He’s such an easy leader to follow. Some leaders are hard to follow. But it’s very easy to follow him into the abyss.”
Maciocia felt confident Maas was “the right person at the right time in a situation that was quite critical” when he made the hire.
It didn’t hurt matters that Maas and Maciocia go way back to being quarterback and coach, respectively, with Edmonton at the turn of the century.
When Maas spoke, everyone in the locker room listened to him, Maciocia said. He would do whatever he could to lead Edmonton to playoff victories when Ricky Ray was hurt and never complained when it was time for Ray to retake the starting role.
He had a coach’s mind when he was a player, regularly popping into Maciocia’s offence to talk about schemes and scenarios.
Maciocia knew exactly who he’d be getting if he hired Maas as his coach. There was just that small issue of anger management that he wanted Maas to tweak – not overhaul completely – before the announcement was made.
“I knew he had it in him. He didn’t have to convince me,” Maciocia said. “I told him to channel it. I said, ‘If you feel like you need to pick up a chair and throw it across the room, come upstairs and into my office. There are chairs that are available to you. Just pick it up and throw it.’
“Now, I never want him to lose that emotional edge that he has. I love that. That’s what makes him special. That’s why we’re here again. Just get as close as you can (to the line), just please don’t pass it.
“He’s got it down pat. He understands it. He knows when he’s getting there. But we also want him there. The players relate to the fact that there’s no grey in his life. It’s all black and white. He’s as sincere and genuine as the day is long.”
