ORONO — With his team coming off back-to-back 2-9 seasons, University of Maine football coach Jordan Stevens and his staff hit the transfer portal almost as hard as the high school recruiting trail in the offseason.

Of the 33 newcomers that Stevens brought into the program, 11 are transfers. That was by design, Stevens said following Wednesday morning’s practice, the first of the preseason for the Black Bears.

“Really, the makeup of the league (Coastal Athletic Association) is a much more mature, developed league. We still want to be a program that’s still two-thirds or 75 percent high school developmental, but there are going to be times each year we’re going to have to go look and find players to compete with,” said Stevens, now in his third season. “That’s ultimately what we need to do. We need to win games, and we’ve got to compete, and get the right character people here.”

The Black Bears open the season at home on Aug. 30 with a nonconference game against Colgate. Maine plays at powerhouse Oklahoma on Nov. 2.

Maine was picked 13th of 16 teams in the CAA preseason coaches poll

Including the 11 new transfers, the Black Bears have 23 players who began their college football career someplace else – 22% of the roster. Stevens expects the newcomers to contribute immediately.

“Our philosophy is, if we’re going to get a transfer, we want them to be an impact player,” said Stevens, an all-conference defensive lineman in his playing days at Maine after graduating from Mt. Blue High.

Veteran players on both sides of the ball welcome the newcomers.

“They’re family now. Whatever school they came from, we accept them for who they are and what they bring to the team,” junior defensive lineman Xavier Holmes said. “Coach Stevens and the other coaches are looking for some more from us, and we’re accepting the challenge.”

Tight end Cooper Heisey joined Maine last season as a transfer from Rutgers. A graduate student, Heisey knows how much a transfer can impact a team, because he did it last season, catching 22 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns.

University of Maine football coach Jordan Stevens observes the team during practice Wednesday in Orono. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I think it’s great. When you get people who are coming from different perspectives, different walks of life, different places, they all bring something to the table. It’s about going in one direction. Bringing these guys in, they’re going to help us win,” Heisey said. “We just want guys who love football. We’ve got the right guys.”

Last season, Maine ranked last in the CAA in rushing, averaging just 79.7 yards per game – the only team in the conference under 100 yards. Newcomers like offensive lineman John Olmstead, an all-Patriot League selection last season at Lafayette, and quarterback Carter Peevy, who led Mercer to the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, will look to get the offense more balanced. Peevy is competing for the starting job, Stevens said, and worked with the first unit Wednesday.

“We’ve got to be more physical up front. We’ve got to run the ball and be a really physically dominant group up front,” Heisey said.

Defensively, the Black Bears need to improve at stopping the run. Maine was 12th of 15 teams in the CAA last season in rushing defense, allowing 177 yards per game. Maine also needs to be better on third down after allowing opponents to convert almost 50% of third-down tries last season (70 of 141). With that in mind, Stevens expects transfers like linebacker Jeremaine Baker, a graduate student from Yale, and defensive lineman Zephron Lester, a graduate student from Stanford, to make an impact.

Holmes said the defense has to play with more discipline.

“We had a lot of guys doing their own individual things. When we come together as one, we’re really effective. We’re the Black Hole,” Holmes said. “I don’t want to speak too much on the future, but we’re here with a chip on our shoulder.”

Stevens said the transfers are players he or his staff had previous relationships with. For example, Stevens coached Baker when he was at Yale, and tried to get Lester to attend Yale.

“We know the type of football we want to play, how we want to run the football, and we’ve addressed a lot of those identity needs. We want to approach that with a great sense of urgency. The players do it. We’ve got to put them in position to win,” Stevens said.

With a month before the first game of the season, the Black Bears need to embrace the process, Heisey said.

“No matter what happens, you’re always going to have stuff to improve on every day. Don’t make the same mistake twice,” he said. “What we do on day one, we build on that on day two. You see that incremental growth over time.”