HSB26 HIGH ACHIEVERS: Max Vivier focused on new position, after switching NCAA football teams

By Martin Cleary

As a freshman, Max Vivier hopes to be the “centre” of attention for the 2026 Colorado State University Rams football team.

But let’s make one thing clear from the start. He won’t be spiking the ball in the end zone after touchdowns or tossing clutch passes in critical situations or setting rushing records for a single game.

The Navan, ON, resident, however, anticipates serving as the initial spark that gets the offence going every week by playing centre on the Rams’ offensive line.

Centre is a new position on a new team for the strapping six-foot, six-inch, 280-pound Vivier, who isn’t new to the American version of football.

After attending Ottawa’s Mer Bleue high school for Grades 7 through 10, he was recruited out of the Cumberland Panthers minor football program to attend and play football at Saint James School in Hagerstown, Maryland. He played on the offensive line (with occasional defensive lineman and long-snapper duties) for Saint James and completed his academic responsibilities over the last three years.

A year ago, he committed to play for the University of Connecticut Huskies, but when head coach Jim Mora and offensive line coach Christian Pace shifted to Colorado State University, Vivier packed his bags and headed West as well.

Vivier thought he would join the Rams sometime this summer, but Mora and Pace encouraged him to come to Colorado State in late January, since he had already graduated from Saint James. The next thing he knew he was in the classroom, starting his spring semester courses in construction management and connecting with all aspects of a new football program.

During his dozen years of playing football for the Panthers (tyke, mosquito, peewee and bantam divisions), Vivier regularly played guard or tackle on the offensive line. When he started at Colorado State, Pace positioned him in those slots as well, but also introduced him to being the centre.

An injury opened the centre position and Vivier has been busy and dedicated to learning all the aspects of snapping the ball to and protecting the quarterback, studying the opposing defence for quick, pre-snap reads to call out blocking assignments to his linemen and trying to feel relaxed in a key position as a freshman.

“The team needs more depth (at centre),” Vivier said in a phone interview Wednesday about the position he has been working on since the end of March. “I came in early and I was the only offensive line freshman there. I’ll do whatever the team needs.”

Vivier, 19, recalled playing centre for one week with the Panthers’ bantam team. He filled in for an injured teammate, but the coaches eventually “found someone better.”

In his second go-round as the quarterback of the offensive line, Vivier is determined to become the starting centre for the Rams, who were 1-7 in the Mountain West Conference and 2-10 overall in 2025.

“It was definitely hard at first to get to know the position,” Vivier explained. “But it’s definitely going well. I’ve been told by the coaches I will play this fall. I’m positive I can be in my position for the season and a couple years after.”

Physically strong, Vivier is gaining confidence as he develops his leadership in his new role.

“I have a strong character and can be confident in stressful moments,” he added.

Vivier entered his university football career following three years of improving his overall position technical skills and training methods at Saint James, which also was a positive team and individual experience for him.

He helped Saint James win two Mid-Atlantic Conference high school titles in his final two years in Maryland. In his last year at Saint James, he was named a 2025 first-team conference all-star as an offensive and defensive lineman and an All-Maryland offensive lineman.

Vivier’s first two years saw him selected as a first-team MAC offensive lineman and a second-team defensive lineman.

During his Grade 11 junior year, Vivier started to receive scholarship offers from NCAA Division 1 universities. He had seven offers to consider and made visits to Connecticut, Towson University and Temple University.

It was a difficult decision as each university had different academic and athletic strengths. In the end, he committed to Connecticut last June because it had the best overall offer and “connected more with the head coach (Jim Mora) and coaching staff.”

But when Mora was hired in late November to be the Colorado State head coach and Pace also agreed to join the Rams, Vivier had to rethink his commitment to Connecticut.

Mora, who previously was a head coach with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, was the Connecticut head coach from 2022-25. From 2012-17, he was the head coach for the UCLA Bruins. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a defensive backs coach for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.

Vivier felt extremely comfortable with Mora and Pace as his main coaches, but he was uncertain about the academic programs at Colorado State. On the other hand, he was uncertain about the in-coming coaching staff at Connecticut, while having already sorted out his academic program.

After careful thought, he decided to shift to Colorado State.

“I knew the coaching staff and I wanted to continue with them,” said Vivier, who also was able to follow his academic pursuit of studying in one of the trades, construction management, at Colorado State.

Vivier said he arrived at Colorado State a couple of days before the start of the spring academic semester. But over time he settled in and enjoyed his first university academic experience.

“At first, it was overwhelming, going from high school to college classes. But I got the hang of it because of my support. The first semester is finished and it went well,” explained Vivier, who is now combining summer semester courses with football training.

Vivier has been able to handle the recent fast-paced changes in his life because of his experiences at Saint James School.

“Leaving home early, I was trained to go through this stuff and adapt,” pointed out Vivier, who has two sisters in high-performance sports.

Dominique Vivier, whose curling rink won the 2025 and 2026 Ontario U20 titles, is a national-level skip with international experience. Gabrielle Vivier plays in the Hawks Flag Football program and was recently named to Football Canada’s women’s junior team, which won the bronze medal at the Junior International Cup in Los Angeles.

Read more: Gabrielle Vivier, Charley Toivonen reuniting with Football Canada national team

Read More of our 2026 High School Best Series as we tip our caps to top local student-athletes at: OttawaSportsPages.ca/Ottawa-High-School-Best-2026