Alouettes coach Jason Maas comfortable with Anthony Calvillo taking over play-calling

Jason Maas isn’t worried about fixing something that isn’t broken.

The Montreal Alouettes announced earlier this off-season that Anthony Calvillo, their offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach, would take over play-calling duties from Maas, the team’s head coach. But Maas said Wednesday that Calvillo began calling plays midway through last season, when Montreal reached the Grey Cup before losing 25-17 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“I felt comfortable with it, and to me, it culminated with a Grey Cup appearance, so obviously I felt like it went pretty well,” Maas said. “AC had proven himself to me and done such a good job with handling the offence, the installs, and the putting together.

“The collaboration with the whole staff has just been amazing, so relinquishing the play-calling at the end was the easy part for me.”

Maas was hired as Montreal’s head coach before the 2023 season and said the plan was always to surrender play-calling duties when the time was right.

“Working with AC and the staff over the last three years has been seamless, awesome and a great experience,” Maas said. “I know we were going to be in great hands when that time came.

“Midway through the year last year, I talked to (GM Danny Maciocia) and felt like it was time to go in a new direction.”

Calvillo is eminently qualified to handle play-calling duties.

He spent 16 of his 20 CFL seasons as Montreal’s starter, winning three Grey Cups and three outstanding player awards. Calvillo played five campaigns for late head coach Don Matthews (2002-2006), who routinely allowed his quarterbacks to call their own plays and make audibles at the line of scrimmage.

Calvillo retired in 2013 as pro football’s all-time passing leader (79,816 yards) and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017. He has served as a coach with both the Alouettes (receivers, quarterbacks and offensive co-ordinator) and Montreal Carabins (assistant head coach, quarterbacks, offensive co-ordinator).

Calvillo earned his fourth career Grey Cup win and first as an Alouettes coach in 2023.

Maas said not having to call plays will allow him to better manage games.

“It’s hard because as a head coach you’re thinking about everything, but you still really have to think about your play-calling and how you’re going to go about it,” he said. Every series, you’re constantly analyzing the game and thinking about every single playcall you make on top of trying to manage the game.

“I’ll be as intrigued as the calls are being made (and) I’ll have pretty good insight as to why they’re being called and which ones are coming. I’m still involved and still enjoying it, it will just be a different experience come game day.”

Also, this off-season, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats named quarterbacks coach Jarryd Baines offensive co-ordinator. Head coach Scott Milanovich had also handled the role but remains the play-caller, at least for now.

“I’m trying to prepare Jarryd for that step,” Milanovich said. “I’ve let him call a game in the pre-season and try to trend him in that manner.

“Jarryd is basically my right hand … he’s going to be able to handle the installs, he’s great at that. He handles our protection meetings, he organizes things for us offensively, but I’m not prepared yet to give up the playcall.”

Baines has been with Hamilton since 2016 when he was hired as an offensive quality control coach. 

The Ottawa native took over as Hamilton’s quarterbacks coach in 2024. Veteran Bo Levi Mitchell has been the East Division’s outstanding player in each of the last two years. He surpassed 5,000 passing yards in both seasons, including a career-best 5,451 in 2024, and recorded more than 400 completions each year, with a career-high 428 in 2025.

Milanovich likened Hamilton’s situation to his time as an assistant in Montreal under Marc Trestman. As the Alouettes’ assistant head coach, offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach, he made some calls but Trestman handled most.

Milanovich became the Toronto Argonauts head coach in 2012 and handled the offence in the club’s Grey Cup championship run, with Maas serving as quarterbacks coach.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.