By the time he arrived at USC last spring, Jayden Maiava looked late to the party. Miller Moss had staked his claim on the Trojans’ open quarterback spot in December, throwing six touchdowns in a debut so convincing that coach Lincoln Riley joked he would scare away any transfers who might want to come.

Not Maiava. Just two weeks after Moss’ fairytale first start in the Holiday Bowl, he left an assured starting role at Nevada Las Vegas, then flipped his commitment from Georgia to compete for a job at USC that already seemed won.

It was the opposite path most passers would take in this era of instant portal gratification. Yet Maiava’s journey already had been more circuitous than most. He didn’t have the experience of other top quarterback prospects, having picked up the position as a teenager. He didn’t grow up learning from a private coach, paying top dollar to train like so many of his peers. Instead, he bounced between three high schools in two states, moving in with his uncle in Hawaii as a sophomore out of concern his life was heading off course in Las Vegas.

Any concerns have faded, replaced by a quiet determination in Maiava and a groundswell of intrigue at USC, where coaches and players alike have raved about a “major, major jump” from the redshirt sophomore. What seemed like a runaway competition as recently as last month wound up being “neck and neck” as a result, according to Riley. Even Moss, who ultimately was named the starter, attested to how much Maiava pushed him.

“He’s got a bright future here,” Riley said. “No doubt about that. It was a great battle.”

Can Lincoln Riley cool down his already hot coaching seat? Can UCLA’s DeShaun Foster coach the team to a winning record?

Consider the extraordinary tools at his disposal and you start to understand the makings of that rapid ascent. The prototypical size at 6 feet 4, the prototypical arm strength, the silky throwing motion that looks as if it were designed in a lab.

“The ball just makes sense coming out of his hand,” said Ryan Porter, the quarterback coach who trained reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and now works with Maiava.

It would take more than a rocket right arm and a smooth spiral to help Maiava find his way to USC. That was always the part that came easy to him.

The rest would take time — and some help — to figure out.

Jayden Maiava played at three high school and then UNLV before entering the transfer portal and deciding to play at USC.

(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

That road to self-discovery started with a detour.

A few years after Jayden and his family moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas, his uncle, David Tautofi, started to worry about his nephew. His grades were slipping. Tautofi wondered if he was falling in with the wrong crowd.

“There was a discussion about a change of environment that would better suit him, better help him,” Tautofi said.

He suggested Jayden come live with him in Hawaii, close to where he grew up in the Palolo Valley near Honolulu — and where Jayden could play for him at Kamikui High, where he was the coach.

Some around the Hawaii prep scene accused Tautofi of recruiting his nephew. Tautofi balked at the accusations.

“The focus was that he’d come here and it was supposed to be a holistic experience for him,” Tautofi said. “He was still trying to figure out who he was, still trying to find his identity.”

Jayden already had the look of a promising quarterback prospect, with early offers from Auburn and Tennessee. But Tautofi was wary of those “uncommittable” offers. He worried they might get in Jayden’s head, knowing the teen still had a lot to learn as a quarterback.

Jayden had started right away as a freshman at Sierra Vista High in Las Vegas, but endured his share of growing pains. He lacked the polish that Tautofi knew he’d need to make it to the next level. He was benched a few times during the season, Tautofi said.

“He had everything to pass the eye test,” Tautofi said. “There were just a lot of things he needed to adjust within himself.”

In Hawaii, Tautofi tried to give Jayden a structured environment, one with rules and expectations. On the field, Jayden thrived. In 2019, he threw for 3,317 yards and 41 touchdowns while rushing for five as Kamikui finished 10-3.

Over that year, Tautofi sensed a change in his nephew off the field too. He was “sharpening his name and his character,” Tautofi said. He was more focused. His confidence as a quarterback was growing.

Then, the pandemic struck. Hawaii canceled the 2020 season. So Jayden decided to move back to Las Vegas with his parents that June.

It was another new school, more new circumstances. But the concerns Tautofi once had faded. And at Liberty Highin Henderson, Nev., Jayden picked up right where he left off on the island.

“He was everything we wanted — athletic, strong, accurate,” says Rich Muraco, Liberty’s coach. “He fit in right away.”

Jayden led Liberty to the state title game in his lone season. But it wasn’t enough to get on the recruiting radar of the big schools. He had a Louisville offer but decided to stay local and stick with UNLV.

Then, the day before signing day, Auburn called to say they wanted him to sign.

“I think that messed with his head a little bit,” Muraco said. “He wanted to go SEC. His parents were like, ‘Nope, they haven’t talked to you or done anything with you for however many months.’”

Maiava kept his commitment with UNLV and took the reins right away as a redshirt freshman, throwing for more than 3,000 yards while helping lead the Rebels to their first nine-win season since the Reagan administration.

UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava shouts instructions to his teammates before a snap last season.

(Andres Leighton / Associated Press)

In spite of that success, Tautofi suggests there were disagreements about “decisions made for his development” at UNLV. Tautofi, a self-described “pioneer” of the name, image and licensing space, says he was the first to suggest Maiava enter the transfer portal.

“I prayed about it a lot just to show me the right path,” Maiava said. “And I believe I made the right decision.”

Riley was among the first to reach out when he hit the portal. Right away, Maiava was drawn to the coach.

“I wanted to play under Lincoln Riley,” Maiava said. “The things he’s done, the accomplishments he has under his belt.”

Maiava, though, first committed to Kirby Smart and Georgia in early January. But almost immediately after his father shared news of his commitment with ESPN, Maiava called Tautofi with second thoughts.

“He shared with me his heart,” Tautofi said. “That’s when I realized he made the wrong decision. He realized it too. The very next day, we were trying to put out that whole fire.

“Luckily, Riley saw something in him. He was gracious enough to be forgiving about it.”

Porter could see it too. It took all of one passing glance this past spring to understand the natural gifts his new pupil had at his disposal.

But the quarterback coach also could see how raw Maiava was as a passer. Everything Maiava had done had been powered by instinct or athleticism. He just happened to be so athletic and so instinctual that the other details never proved to be a problem.

UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava, left, throws past Kansas linebacker Taiwan Berryhill Jr. (No. 6) during the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in December.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

“You watch Jayden make these throws, and you’re like, yeah, 90% of kids in the country can’t make that throw because their feet aren’t in position,” Porter said. “But it’s completely natural to him.”

It reminded Porter of another client with incredibly agile feet, the reigning Heisman winner Daniels, who trained privately with Porter for more than a decade.

Unlike Daniels, Maiava hadn’t been schooled for years in the intricacies of the position. When Porter asked Maiava specifics about dropback techniques and what he’d learned from other coaches, Porter says Maiava offered a confused look in response.

Maiava had a lot to learn, so they sat down together in Porter’s office and sketched out a development plan. Fortunately, as Porter came to understand, Maiava could pick up concepts the first time he was told. He just needed the confidence to use them.

Porter focused on the finer points. He taught him how to tie in route concepts to his footwork, allowing him to throw multiple concepts from different types of drops. They dove deep into Riley’s playbook, with Porter mindful of matching his training with the coach’s plans for Maiava.

USC’s coaches have seemed pleased with the progress since spring, when he first began working with Porter. It wasn’t enough to unseat Moss, who started with a significant lead in spring, but Riley made a point to note that Maiava had “improved drastically, ” more than any of the staff expected.

“He’s certainly so much more comfortable, [with] presnap communication, just getting up there,” USC quarterbacks coach Luke Huard added. “Now he can just react and go play ball rather than thinking through 30 different scenarios.”

Porter has seen enough from his new pupil to know that progress is only the beginning. Maiava’s arrival as a top quarterback prospect might have come later than most, but Porter’s confident that it’s only a matter of time before Maiava gets his opportunity at USC.

And when he does?

“When Jayden Maiava finally steps foot on that field,” Porter said, “he ain’t coming off. That I truly believe. He’s gonna be a good one.”