ORONO, Maine — A position normally unappreciated or unnoticed is now the center of attention at the University of Maine football camp.
Center has been a no-brainer position for seven of the last eight years with All-American and multiple all-conference honorees in four-year starters Ben Lazarski (2001-05) and Ryan Canary (2005-08) manning the middle.
“They’ve really been the centerpiece of our offensive line and we’ve been blessed to have that kind of rock in there,” said Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove. “I think we’ve kind of taken for granted over the years how much our center embraced the responsibility of being in charge with line calls, and even making them for inexperienced quarterbacks at times.”
They won’t be taking it for granted this season with sophomore Steve Shea of Corinna and redshirt freshman Garret Williamson of New Jersey competing for the open spot.
“Now we have the challenge of going back to what it was when Ben was first here and he was a guy we thought was a good player, but an unknown commodity,” Cosgrove said.
Well, the 6-foot-4, 291-pound Shea is certainly not unknown after starting 13 games at right guard last season, but his football resume is brief given he only played two years of high school football — both on an exhibition basis before his Nokomis Warriors of Newport went varsity.
“This is one of those stories that when I’m old and retired and get a chance to write some recruiting stories, Steven Shea’s will be right up there,” Cosgrove said. “We noticed him through our camp. He played hard, but probably didn’t have a clue what he was doing. He was extremely coachable though.”
The 6-3, 273-pound Williamson decided to try center on his own and volunteered his services to Maine offensive line coach Frank Giufre.
“Garret came up to me and said he thought he could snap the football, so we put him in there and never looked back,” Giufre said.
Both are making the battle to be the quarterback of the offensive line a spirited one, but not to the point of being nasty.
“They do a great job feeding off each other,” Giufre said. “I’ve seen other situations where there’s a lot of animosity between guys fighting for a position, but every day they come out here trying to get better and work together.
“The great thing we have right now, compared to the two years prior, is we’re a lot closer. This unit is very tight. There’s a camaraderie at that position you don’t normally find.”
Both of the top contenders to replace Canary have been heavily influenced by Maine’s 44-game starter.
“I started playing center in spring practice and looked at film of Ryan Canary and how he did things,” said Williamson, who also studies NFL films. “He did extremely detailed work on what guys we were going against were going to do. He almost wrote a novel on every one.”
And Canary’s best advice?
“He just told me to play hard,” Williamson said. “He was always alert and knowing what he was doing.”
Both players stay in touch with Canary via text messages and the occasional phone call.
“Yeah, we stay in touch. He’s always willing to help out or answer your questions,” said Shea. “Ryan was a smart kid. During pregame week on Monday, he’d take two pages of notes down compared to my half page and he really studied to know what the opposition was going to do.”
Canary’s counsel is key since center is arguably one of the most difficult positions to master.
“Center’s different from guards and tackles because you have to make line calls, you’re constantly involved with what the quarterback’s doing … You’ve got to be a very cerebral football player,” said Giufre, a former guard and center at Syracuse University. “I would say the hardest part about the position is once your hand touches the football, you can’t stand up. It burns the hell out of your legs.”
It was burning even hotter Friday afternoon as temperatures rose to 90 degrees on the Alfond Stadium turf.
“It’s a big hole to fill, but me and Steve are helping each other out and we’re doing a good job of learning quickly,” Williamson said.
Good thing. Time is short for Shea and Williamson to win the battle and get comfortable as the Black Bears open the season against St. Cloud State University on Sept. 3.