When Arizona left guard Chubba Maae was a kid growing up in Long Beach, California, he had aspirations to play football, but he also wanted his occupation to be centered around food.
Maae said “one of my dreams” was to be on the television show, “Man vs. Food,” or be the next Guy Fieri, the wildly popular restaurateur and Food Network host.
Maae jokingly brought up his dream career to UA chief of staff Ben Thienes and director of player development Tobruk Blaine. They turned dreams into reality.
Maae started a YouTube series, “Chowing Down with Chubba,” where he tries notable restaurants around Tucson with some of his teammates and other UA athletes. Chowing Down with Chubba has shot episodes at Martin’s Comida Chingona, Fiamme Pizza, Brother John’s Barbecue and Baja Cafe.
Arizona offensive lineman Chubba Maae speaks to reporters on media day at Davis Sports Center, July 29, 2025.
“It’s been amazing to just do it,” Maae said. “You see it on TV all the time and you see people post on social media and stuff like that. Being able to do it with my teammates, it’s been nice not having to do it alone — share the wealth. Food is food. It’s great. Who doesn’t love free food?”
Maae’s favorite of the aforementioned restaurants is Baja Cafe.
“That strawberry shortcake pancake is fire,” he said.
In addition to creating food content, Maae is one of the newest members of the offensive line at left guard. For his final season, the 6-2, 349-pound Maae moved from defensive tackle to offensive line in the spring to help out the Wildcats’ interior offensive line, especially after the loss of Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Brown, who suffered an upper-body injury in the spring but is expected to return soon.
Even though Maae played multiple positions on the offensive line at his high school, Long Beach Poly, there was still a learning curve for Maae, who played defensive tackle at UC Davis and Arizona for five years.
Arizona offensive lineman Chubba Maae speaks to reporters on media day at Davis Sports Center, July 29, 2025.
Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege was encouraged by Maae’s potential, “but he has never really been the guy” to take control of the position.
“There’s so much technical (and) fundamental work at the O-Line position — and communication, which we require from our guys a lot,” Doege said.
The transition from defensive tackle “is not as simple as I’ve seen in the past,” Doege said.
Maae said his teammates on the offensive line have “made it so much easier for me as far as tips and tricks for little things,” he said.
“I’m just trying to take in as much information as I can and go out there to have fun,” Maae said. “Just leave it all out there. ... For me, playing is fun. At the end of the day, football is a sport that we all fell in love with when we were kids. Just being able to be out there on the field with my brothers, it’s the funnest thing in the world to me.”
The transition from defensive tackle to left guard “is a lot different because defense, you can have more of an individual impact,” Maae said.
Arizona offensive lineman Chubba Maae runs through defensive drills during fall football practice at Dick Tomey practice field, Aug. 20, 2025.
“But on offense, especially on the O-Line, you have to work as a group and be selfless and just do your job; nothing more, nothing less,” Maae said. “As long as you do your job and do what Doege calls up, it’s a victory at the end of the day.”
Personal tragedy also hindered Maae’s progress at left guard in the offseason and training camp.
Maae’s father, James, died last month at 55 years old. The older Maae, who was a passionate Las Vegas Raiders fan and boilermaker for an oil refinery, “was my hero growing up, the guy I looked up to,” Chubba Maae said. The younger Maae’s actual first name is James and was named after his father.
“He was a man of very few words, but his actions spoke loudly,” Maae added. “He was a big guy, but he never talked much. My dad, he was was of my main motivators in this football stuff. He didn’t know much about football, he didn’t know about sports in general, but all he knew was how to work hard. That’s all he did from the moment he met my mom. All he did was work and provide for our family since 1991-1992 when they met. I just learned from my father to put my head down, keep working and be humble.
Arizona offensive lineman Chubba Maae participates in hitting drills during spring football practice at Dick Tomey Field, April 8, 2025.
“As far as the season goes, every time I strap on the helmet and put on the shoulder pads, the first thing I see is his face. I can hear him in the back of my head, just cheering me on and telling me, ‘Let’s go.’ Whenever I mess up, it’s ‘On to the next and keep it going.’”
After returning to training camp following James Maae’s memorial services in Southern California, the support from the UA coaches and players “meant the world to me,” Maae said.
“It meant a lot to me and my family, especially my mother. That was the love of her life and she’s taking it really hard. You tell your parents all the time, ‘Yeah, mom, I’m doing good over here and I have a family over here, they love me.’ But to see it and feel it, it hits different. It assured me that I made the right decision to come here to Arizona. I’m grateful for it.”
Maae has been a profound and positive influence “for the type of person that he is, how he carries himself,” said Arizona defensive end Chase Kennedy.
“He’s the nicest human being I’ve ever met,” Kennedy said. “He’ll go out of his way and do whatever for anybody, great leader. I can go on and on about Chubba.”
Arizona offensive lineman Chubba Maae (55) in the second half against Kansas State, Sept. 12, 2025, in Tucson.
Maae didn’t start the first two games of the season at left guard. Instead, Arizona started former offensive tackle Michael Wooten against Hawaii and Weber State. Alongside left tackle Ty Buchanan, center Ka’ena Decambra, right guard Alexander Doost and right tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai, Maae made his first start against Kansas State and was an essential component to Arizona rushing for 234 yards against the Wildcats from Manhattan.
Maae’s block on Kansas State defensive end Cody Stufflebean created a lane for Ismail Mahdi to burst for a 60-yard run in the first quarter. The drive ended with quarterback Noah Fifita rushing in for a 15-yard touchdown.
“For him to be able to come into that room and pick it up — against K-State, to play at the level that he played at, was very impressive,” Doege said. “I’m not ready to crown him, there’s still competition there with him and Mike. ... He still has a lot to prove, but that Friday night against K-State, he proved that he belonged, and he was a major reason why we were able to run the football, so I was really proud of him.”
Arizona’s next challenge up front will be against 14th-ranked Iowa State’s veteran defensive line led by defensive tackle Dominique Orange (nicknamed “Big Citrus”), a 6-4, 325-pound senior.
“For me, it’s knowing that our front five is better than any three, four or five (defensive linemen) that you put up against us,” Maae said. “Whatever job needs to be done, it’s going to be done. As far as the mindset goes, you just gotta believe that whoever is lined up in front of you, they can’t go up against us. There’s nobody that we can’t block together.”
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy walks on the field during the first half of a Sept. 6, 2025, game in Eugene, Ore.
Oklahoma State fires Gundy
Longtime Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was fired after 20-plus seasons at OSU.
No interim head coach has been named yet. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham stands alone as the longest-tenured head coach in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State moved on from Gundy following the Cowboys’ 1-2 start, which included a 66-point loss to sixth-ranked Oregon and a home loss to Tulsa, which lost to Navy and New Mexico State the previous two games.
Oklahoma State finished in last place in the first season of the 16-team Big 12 in 2024 and was the only team in the conference to have a winless record in league play.
Before Oklahoma State’s descension, the Cowboys were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for 17 straight seasons from 2008-24. Oklahoma State qualified for the postseason 18 consecutive years from 2006-23, winning 12 of them, including the 2010 Alamo Bowl against Arizona.
Gundy ended his Oklahoma State tenure with a 170-90 record and posted five Top 15 finishes since he was hired in 2005.
The Cowboys face Arizona in Tucson on Saturday, Oct. 4, at noon on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.
Extra points
— Iowa State sophomore kicker Kyle Konrardy is not expected to play on Saturday due to injury, according to ISU head coach Matt Campbell on Tuesday. Konrardy is a two-year starter and has made 28 of 37 field goals (75.7%) in his career, including a 63-yarder, which set the Jack Trice Stadium record. Freshman Chase Smith will replace Konrardy against Arizona.
— Doege coached New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart at USC and Ole Miss. On Tuesday, Dart was announced as the Giants’ Week 4 starter over Russell Wilson against the Los Angeles Chargers. Said Doege, on Dart: “He’s going to crush it, just because he’s the ultimate competitor. ... He’s as confident of a dude as I’ve been around. We have a really tight relationship. He’s like a little brother to me. He still texts me right before games to tell me good luck; I do the same. ... I’m not surprised, because of who he is. He’s going to walk into a building and completely take it over by his personality. ... When he goes out on the field, he’s trying to bury you, which I love.”
— Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, on the Wildcats’ first availability report of the season, which will become public Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. on Big12Sports.com: “I think it’s great. I think it puts everybody on the same page. ... I think it takes a lot of pressure off of (media) and us, because I just feel like whenever there is an injury, it just becomes too much in the narrative when really you’re just trying to get your team ready to play with who was available for that game. So now we have a streamlined process of this is the availability report, and these are guys that you think are going to go, and these guys are doubtful.”
