In the fall of 2004, Jordan Stevens was the reason Gary Parlin was always late for dinner.

Parlin, then the head football coach at Mt. Blue High in Farmington, had to keep the weight room open after practice so senior captain Jordan Stevens could lift. Then, a few more players joined the post-practice weight training sessions. Before long, much of the team was in the weight room after practice.

“I wasn’t getting home to eat dinner until 7:30 at night because I couldn’t get them out of there,” Parlin said.

Stevens always did the little extra, Parlin said, and convinced his teammates to come along for the ride.

Stevens, 35, will make his home debut Saturday as head football coach at the University of Maine in a non-conference game against Colgate. A Maine native, he grew up in Temple and was a football standout and champion skier at Mt. Blue who went on to become a three-year starter for the UMaine football team and a cornerstone of the Black Bears defense.

After graduation, Stevens began his coaching career as an assistant at Maine in 2011. He moved on to Yale in 2015, eventually becoming the team’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Stevens was named Maine’s head coach in December, following the departure of Nick Charlton.

In high school, Stevens had a reputation as an intelligent and quiet athlete who chose to lead by example. As a senior, he led the Cougars to an 8-2 record and the Pine Tree Conference semifinals in 2004. Stevens said the football culture in the Mt. Blue program at the time was important in his development in the sport.

“That’s really where I learned the expectations of how a team should function,” Stevens said. “I thought we had a strong tradition there and Coach Parlin did a great job of that. Once I got into college and into coaching, reflecting back, there was accountability there which you might not see all the time in high school. We were starting on time. Guys weren’t missing practice. There was always a good culture there.”

Coaches and teammates who knew Stevens in high school all knew him as an intense player with a team-first mentality.

“He outworked everyone,” said Dave DiGravio, who co-captained Mt. Blue with Stevens when they were seniors in 2004. “He was always very focused and detailed with what he was trying to get done.”

Ron DiGravio, Dave’s older brother, was two years ahead of Stevens at Mt. Blue. When he was a senior and Stevens was a sophomore fighting for varsity playing time, DiGravio was impressed by Stevens’ work ethic.

“He was all about football,” said DiGravio, who went on to play collegiately at Bates and is now defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State. “Coach Parlin had a really structured program, and Jordan bought into it. … In high school, he probably wasn’t as good a player as ended up being (in college). He grinded. He got every last drop of ability he had in himself.”

A linebacker and fullback in high school, Stevens was 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and selected first-team all-Pine Tree Conference at linebacker his senior year, finishing the season with more than 100 tackles. Offensively, Stevens was a bruising, tough-to-tackle fullback, running for approximately 500 yards in the Cougars’ spread offense. Entering the 2004 season, Stevens was the lone returning starter on either side of the ball.

Craig Collins was Mt. Blue’s defensive coordinator when Stevens was a player. Now the head coach at Dirigo High in Dixfield, Collins recalled Stevens as one of the smartest players he has coached.

“Jordan was a student of the game. He was constantly watching film and he cared about his teammates,” Collins said.

Parlin recalled suspending two starters the day of the game for speeding in the Mt. Blue parking lot. When asked about the move, and knowing it made the Cougars weaker on the field, Stevens supported the decision.

“I remember him saying ‘Yeah, we can use those guys, but we have rules. If you don’t do things the right way, you shouldn’t be out there,'” Parlin said, “and that was probably the most he said all season. Jordan was such an easy kid to coach. He did everything right, but he was so quiet.”

In high school, Stevens was a player who would rather teammates notice and imitate the way he did things, rather than tell them how to do them.

But in time he would become a vocal leader. Soon after his college football career was complete, Stevens visited Mt. Blue and spoke to the football players. He stressed to the Cougars how important it is to pay attention to the little details. Like running wind sprints. You should be at full sprint until you’re at least five yards past the finish line, Stevens told them.

“Our kids, on the first day of practice, they all did their wind sprints the right way,” Parlin said.

On more than one occasion, Stevens returned to Farmington and spoke to Mt. Blue athletes. For the coaches who knew him as the quiet leader, the change in Stevens was dramatic.

“I don’t think he realized how much the kids looked up to him. He wasn’t like that, making it about him. He’d tell them enjoy it, be proud of where you’re from,” Collins said.

Along with his prowess on the football field, Stevens excelled as a downhill skier at Mt. Blue, winning 15 of 16 races his senior season, including the state title in the slalom, to help the Cougars win the Class A state championship. Following the season, Stevens was named the boys’ alpine skier of the year by the Maine Sunday Telegram, Morning Sentinel and Sun Journal.

“He could’ve gone to Carrabassett Valley Academy and been a top-notch ski racer,” Ron DiGravio said.

Parlin and Dave DiGravio think Stevens set the tone for Mt. Blue football success, even after he was gone. In 2005, the season following Stevens’ graduation, the Cougars won the Pine Tree Conference before falling to Bonny Eagle in the Class A state championship game. The players who were juniors when Stevens was a captain continued to follow his example when it was their team.

“His leadership really rubbed off on everyone,” Dave DiGravio said. “He was always really focused on football, so it’s not surprising it’s the path he chose.”

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