Trials and Tribulations that Brought Max McCree and Michael Switzer Together at UW

At a football camp in St. Louis, Michael Switzer first laid eyes on Maximus McCree.

It was 2018 and Switzer was a first-year offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach for Indiana State. McCree turned up as a promising junior offensive tackle from Grandview High School some 250 miles away in the Kansas City suburbs. They made a connection.

"I loved him at camp," Switzer said,

However, McCree didn't have the grades for a four-year university and later enrolled at Iowa Central Community College.

Switzer, like any diligent young football coach, made sure to keep track of the big kid with the gladiator name.

"He's one of those guys you never unfollow on Twitter," he said of the social media platform now known as X.

Switzer watched this guy transition from a JC football All-America selection to Maryland, where he played in just two games in 2022 before leaving the Big Ten school. He cut short his time with the Terrapins to return home and assist his family, His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, while his father needed back surgery.

He went to work to support them, staying out of football for more than a year.

In 2024, McCree next made it known he was available to play again and this didn't escape Switzer's attention.

"He shows up and he was back on the market and I said, 'Oh my god, we need a tackle,' " the coach recalled recently.

Max McCree pass protects against Northwestern. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Switzer, hired by Jedd Fisch as a UW senior offensive analyst in 2024 after working for him in Arizona, used all of this intel to bring McCree and the Huskies together.

With all of the places he'd been, the 6-foot-6, 295-pound McCree still needed the NCAA to rule him eligible. It was a long drawn-out process that didn't happen until an hour before kickoff for the Huskies' second game against Eastern Michigan. He put on a uniform and played that day.

McCree later started four games at left tackle for the Huskies before breaking his hand on the first series at Iowa. He's now getting ready for spring football and another UW season without complications.

"That was a huge deal to get him and join our football team," Switzer said. "We're excited about Max and his football future here and how he'll develop."

And it's all because this conscientious coach saw something he liked in a football player he met seven years ago, knew how to use social media to his benefit and wouldn't let go.

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