Hall: Maier, Mitchell fittingly get ’23 season rolling

Vicki Hall has a two-decade involvement with the CFL, having worked for the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald and later as a part of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame selection committee. She has covered five Olympic Games, 10 Grey Cups and a Stanley Cup Final. A National Newspaper Award winner, Hall will enter the media wing of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame this year; she is the first woman to do so. She will be a regular contributor to CFL.ca through this season. 


In virtually every office, on pretty much every worksite, there’s at least one Texas-sized personality with a presence so commanding – and a resume so impressive — that people hang on every word.

For the better part of decade, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was that guy for the Calgary Stampeders. When Mitchell spoke, people listened to the loquacious Texan, even when his innermost thoughts antagonized the fans of opposing teams (hello, Saskatchewan).

But now the fiery Mitchell, 33, is the starting quarterback in Hamilton, leaving the Stamps to kickoff the regular season at home tonight against the BC Lions without the undisputed face of the franchise.

It’s the beginning of a new chapter for both teams as Mitchell ditches the horse logo on his helmet for that of a ferocious feline.

“Bo’s going to be a Hall-of-Famer,” says Stamps defensive tackle Mike Rose. “We love him, but he’s not here.”

“He’s one of the faces of the league,” says Marc Mueller, the Calgary quarterbacks coach. “And a winner.”

RELATED
» 
Everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 season
» 
Lions, Stamps open season with playoff rematch
» 
Power Rankings: Kicking off the 2023 season
» Collaros sits on top of TSN’s top-50 players for 2023
» Brandon’s Blitz Picks: Diving into Week 1
» Get your tickets for 2023 games now

Indeed. The Tiger-Cats will have a new level of bite to them Friday night with Mitchell — a two-time Grey Cup champion (2014 and 2018) and two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player (2016 and 2018) — barking out the plays under centre in Winnipeg.

“Bo knows what it takes,” says former Stampeder linebacker Jameer Thurman, who signed this off-season in Hamilton as a free-agent. “I’ve lost count of how many Grey Cups he’s been in, but he has two rings and a couple of MOP’s as well.

“So, he knows what it takes. He understands the culture and what’s expected of guys in close games and through adversity. He can really calm the guys down to really understand that everything’s going to be OK if we just stick to what we do and execute.

“It’s all going to work out.”

The Ticats certainly hope so after trading for Mitchell’s rights last November and then, roughly two months later, signing the veteran gunslinger to a three-year contract.

“We’re going to miss him,” Calgary head coach/general manager Dave Dickenson says of the all-time leading passer in franchise history. “It’s a self-inflicted type of deal. We decided to go this direction.

“Now let’s see what type of players we have on the team that can step up and take over some of the things that may be missing.”

The trade, involving a swap of draft picks, came after Mitchell lost the starting job in Calgary last August to 26-year-old Jake Maier, who played his college ball at UC Davis.

In late September, the Stampeders inked Maier to a two-year contract extension, signalling the likely end of Mitchell’s reign in Calgary.

Starting the back nine, with Mitchell on the bench, Maier connected on 207-of-277 passes, for 2,389 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Mitchell brings his impressive winning record and resume to Hamilton, where the Tiger-Cats have Grey Cup aspirations (Ticats.ca)

“I’d be lying to you if I said my confidence didn’t take a hit,” Mitchell says. “It wasn’t necessarily the confidence in myself, but just in what I was doing.

“I think what I was doing was what Calgary wanted for a long time. And then what they wanted changed.

“So maybe I was trying to adapt myself to that or playing the game differently instead of playing the game the way I played it.”

The game of football is always evolving, and Mitchell wondered, just a little, if it might be passing him by.

Remember: this is a guy whose confidence isn’t easily rattled. He started playing football in the fifth grade, asking if he could line up as a receiver but reluctantly agreeing to dress as a quarterback instead.

His team went 0-11 the first year and then 1-10 the second year. Throughout those 22 games, Mitchell’s squad scored maybe eight times, all using the same play called “the Statue of Liberty.”

The future CFL legend shook off those early disappointments. And in a similar display of resiliency last season, he fortified his belief in self by focusing on the basics.

“I just kept building that back on scout team, honestly, which might sound weird for someone who has played as long as I have,” Mitchell says. “But going against Calgary on scout team every day really helped to build that confidence.”

As a then member of the Calgary defence, Thurman appreciated the help from his quarterback.

For the most part, anyway.

“He gave us a good look and was battling us up a little bit,” Thurman says. “But it made us a better defence at the end of the day.”

Through training camp, Mitchell has been getting comfortable and putting his mark on this Ticats team (The Canadian Press)

On the eve of Mitchell’s final regular-season game as a Stampeder at McMahon Stadium, Thurman crashed his quarterback’s media scrum by asking if he had anything to say to his teammates.

Mitchell responded by saying he might cry.

“Most people didn’t want to state the obvious, but everyone knew the writing was on the wall,” Thurman says. “They had just signed Jake to a big contract, so everyone knew what was going to happen.

“I just wanted to give someone that’s given almost over 10 years to the city the respect he deserved, no matter how it turned out.”

All that work on scout team turned out to be a huge help for Mitchell when Dickenson ordered him to warm up in the fourth quarter of the Western Semi-Final against the Lions.

Clearly, Lions head coach Rick Campbell and defensive co-ordinator Ryan Phillips detected flaws in Maier’s game. The Calgary starter completed just 12-of-22 passes for 138 yards before retreating to the bench.

“It allowed me to look at myself,” Maier said. “Because you get to the point where you play so many games and you get enough film on you, and teams start to exploit who you are and your weaknesses.

“So, it allowed me to go back and clean some things up and clean up some of the details that I wasn’t excelling at at the time.”

The Stamps ultimately lost the Semi-Fnal 30-16 to Nathan Rourke and the Lions. But Mitchell led two scoring drives and went 8-11 for 147 yards.

“I was hoping that time would come before the playoff game but obviously it came in a playoff game,” Mitchell says. “I got to go in and showcase my skills again and I think that obviously helped with free agency and all that.”

Now feeling at home in Hamilton, Mitchell can’t wait to play behind what he calls “a nasty” offensive line with former Lion Joel Figueroa protecting his blind side at left tackle.

“They are stout,” Mitchell says of his bodyguards. “They are, I think, mean in nature — obviously, nice in person, but it’s nice to have some guys that are nasty in front of you.

“That might seem weird to you, but as a quarterback, you want to know that if a guy hits you wrong, they would take that guy to the ground.”

In his first full year as the Stamps’ starter, Maier has earned the confidence of his coaches and teammates (The Canadian Press)

In Calgary, the impressive ground game takes at least some pressure off Maier to orchestrate an air show in his first season-opener as a starter.

“He’s really come in seamlessly and is an accurate player,” Dickenson says. “He’s got good control of the offence. He is a born leader. There’s no doubt about it. You can just tell people gravitate towards him.

“But it’s still about production and making those throws on those plays with pressure — when you’re in the last three minutes of a game to win it.”

Calgary tailback Ka’Deem Carey senses a change in Maier now that he’s the undisputed No. 1.

“He’s a whole different person — his swag, his energy that he brings to this team,” Carey says. “We’re ready to go with Jake. Everybody’s bonding with him. And you’re going to see a different Stamps team when we take the field, because he’s the general. He’s a different chief.

“He’s ready to go.

“He’s going to show you guys.”

The comment system on this website is now powered by the CFL.ca Forums. We'd love for you to be part of the conversation; click the Start Discussion button below to register an account and join the community!