By Tim Parry
Not every high school quarterback goes on to play college football. And given his diminutive size and desire to attend University of Nebraska, Bobby Maffei knew that well before he first started under center at Trumbull High School.
But when recruiting coaches from Nebraska came to the office of Maffei’s father, Eagles head coach Bob Maffei Jr., to meet Trumbull lineman Anel Montanez, the quarterback found out there was a way he could contribute as a member of the Cornhuskers.
And as a result, Maffei will leave for Lincoln on Wednesday to begin his second year as an undergraduate assistant for the University of Nebraska football team.
“He had a decent high school career, be he knows he’s undersized,” said the Trumbull coach Maffei. “Bobby loves football, he loves coaching, and he wants to be a part of it. He wants to be a college coach, that’s his goal in life.”
But Maffei does more than just fill water buckets and put equipment away. Maffei helps coach the Nebraska receivers, breaks down game film, and basically helps prepare Nebraska to play against its opponents.
“Basically I’m a manager, but I go above and beyond that. I’ll help out with the video interns, I’ll break down tape, tag it on the computers,” Maffei said of the work he does for wide receivers/assistant head coach Ted Gilmore. “I’m just kind of making that experience what I can make of it.”
Maffei probably would not be in the position he is if it wasn’t for Montanez, who is at University of Buffalo. Aaron Stamm, a former Nebraska graduate assistant, became Montanez’s recruiting coach at Buffalo, and got into a conversation with Maffei about Nebraska football.
As the younger Maffei and Stamm got to know each other, the discussion about coaching came up. And when Stamm began talking about the undergraduate program, Maffei was hooked.
Though he is working with the football team, sports management is not Maffei’s major. Instead, he has chosen Spanish education. That way, should it turn out that coaching at the collegiate level is not the route he wants to pursue, he’ll still have a degree to fall back on, and maybe even follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps.
“My dad loves coaching high school football, but he’s always told me to use my brain, that someone your age would have to be the college coach eventually,” Maffei said. “I really want to stay in college, I see how these coaches can turn young men into adults, and I’d love to be around football 24/7.”
And if college coaching helps him get his master’s degree paid for, too, that’s fine by Maffei.
“I’ve always done well in Spanish, and both of my parents being teachers affected me. I’ve been around education my entire life, whether it’s been gym, history, or science [which his mother, Eileen, teaches at Hillcrest Middle School in Trumbull],” Maffei said. “That’s kind of the backup plan. Get your bachelors in education, get your masters in something close to that, just in case college coaching doesn’t work out for me.”
Though Nebraska did not meet expectations on the field in 2007, and head coach Bill Callahan lost his job as a result, it was a blessing in disguise for Maffei.
Gilmore was retained, so there was some continuity for Maffei. And Maffei did not burn his bridge with Callahan, who is now an assistant with the New York Jets and invited Bobby to training camp to attend practices.
Maffei also got a chance to coach some wide receivers this summer at the prestigious Quarterback & Receiver Camp, where he met former Nebraska Outland Trophy winner Rich Glover and Bobby Acosta, who is interning as a coach with the Jets this fall.
“It’s allowed me to meet a whole new coaching staff already, and networking is important in this field,” said Maffei, who also helped Gilmore with the quarterback recruiting this past offseason.
And even while watching the Fairfield County team in the recently-played Hall of Fame Classic, Maffei, standing alongside his father and several high school football coaches, wanted to give his two cents.
“I’m wondering why [Fairfield County] isn’t lining up 3 and 1 formation, throwing to the back side, Like they did with [Bunnell wide receiver Michael] Easley on the scoring drive,” Maffei said. “They throw a slant to him on the back side, and there’s no way a cornerback can cover an athlete like him. So in the back of my mind [tonight], I’ve been coaching.”
Call it a no-brainer, but Western Connecticut’s two All-Americans — Catherine Nathans and Tom McDonald — were named the Danbury university’s Athletes of the Year.
