New CU Safeties Coach Maxie Believes Dorrell Ready To Awaken Buffaloes
March 29, 2020 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Among the folks who follow college football closely, Colorado is seen by many as a "sleeping giant."
The pieces are in place:
— A well-established tradition and history of success.
— World-class facilities and membership in a Power 5 conference.
— A strong history of sending players to the next level.
— A brand that is recognized across the nation.
But new Colorado safeties coach Brett Maxie, who joined new CU head coach Karl Dorrell's staff in early March, said the most important piece has just been added to the equation.
"The sleeping giant just got hired," Maxie said. "Karl is the sleeping giant. He is committed, which I knew from the first time he and I started talking about it. He is committed to bringing this program back to where it needs to be."
Maxie brings to Boulder a wealth of experience, both as a player and coach. He spent 13 years in the NFL — New Orleans, Carolina, Atlanta and San Francisco — before embarking on a coaching career that has spanned more than two decades. The majority of his time with a whistle has been spent in the NFL, but he did spend two years at the college level at Vanderbilt, where he had the opportunity to work with Dorrell for a season (2015).
During that time, the two coaches' wives built a strong friendship, as did their daughters. When Dorrell moved back to the NFL after the 2015 season, the families' relationship stayed steady. When Dorrell called to see if Maxie would be interested in working at CU, he jumped at the chance.
"Karl and I only had an opportunity to work together for one season, but the impact was so strong that we have maintained that relationship over the years," Maxie said. "When this situation came up, it was a no-brainer. Having the opportunity to work with Karl again — that was perfect."
Dorrell said Maxie is a perfect fit for the staff he wanted to build in Boulder, one that stresses a teaching aspect that stretches beyond the field. It is that overall approach, Dorrell believes, that helps a coach maximize the potential of their student-athletes.
"I've known Brett to be a really good mentor and teacher with young people," Dorrell said when he announced Maxie's hiring. "He coached the defensive backs at Vanderbilt while I was there, and I felt he had a great connection with his players and got the most out of them. He enjoyed a long, stellar career in the NFL, and you don't play in the league for that long without becoming a total student of the game. The players will benefit greatly from that knowledge."
While he's been in Boulder for barely a month, Maxie has had the opportunity to look at film from last season and familiarize himself with the current personnel. He also knows that Colorado has been through mostly lean years over the last decade-plus, but he believes there were signs of positive change during last year's 5-7 season.
"They won five games last year and beat some good teams," Maxie said. "Toward the end of the year you could see the team start to come together. On the defensive side of the ball, you can see the difference in those games down the stretch. Even the games they lost, there were some close games they had a chance to win."
Over the course of his playing and coaching career, Maxie has developed a philosophy of what makes a solid defensive back. His three top traits:
"Nowadays, size makes a difference," he said. "At the next level, it's a big man's game. You have to have the size. Then, obviously, you have to have the brain power, the intellect — a high football IQ. Third, it takes a special skill set, the ability to take the football away. You have those three things, and you have the chance to succeed."
Maxie stressed that the takeaway part of the equation can cover a variety of different skills.
"Some guys are just naturals at it," he said. "Some guys can go get the ball in the air, some guys just have a knack for punching the ball away. Whatever it takes, just taking the ball away."
He points to former Baltimore Ravens great Ed Reed as a player who had a sixth sense for forcing takeaways.
"Ed Reed did an excellent job of seeing the quarterback and 'stealing second.'" Maxie said. "That's the term I use when you're back in space and you're looking at the front tip shoulder of the quarterback — you have to be able to steal second. It's like when the pitcher in baseball is looking over his shoulder at you on first. He's set up, you start to creep — and as soon as that hand comes off, you're gone. Same way in football — once he's going to the receiver, once he commits — you're gone."
Those are the skills Maxie plans to help develop in Colorado's secondary, particularly on the back end. While the Buffs don't have an abundance of experience at safety, they do have a returning starter in strong safety Derrion Rakestraw, along with some talented if untested youngsters.
"There's a good nucleus there and we're going to build on it," Maxie said. "My goal is to have them improve in one area, incrementally, every day. It takes time, but we'll get them ready."
That, Maxie said, will be part of the overall building process he believes Dorrell is ready to produce.
"Karl's vision is that he has seen what this place is capable of," Maxie said. "There is a nucleus here to work with to get it back. We just need to add some pieces to make the program a championship program, which it deserves. It deserves to be championship competitive to where it was before the lean years."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
