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Cole Mazza is a native of Bakersfield, California where he attended Liberty High School. As a prep, Mazza played mainly center during his career but he had immense talent as a long snapper. It was this knack for snapping that led him to being one of the top snappers in the country, garnering a three-star rating as a prospect and being selected as the #1 LS in the country by 247Sports.
After graduating, Mazza chose to attend Alabama over west coast schools like UCLA or Washington State.
Mazza went on to start every single game as a member of the Crimson Tide. He was perfect on every snap, as well. His performance earned him an opportunity to participate in the 2017 Reese’s Senior Bowl where he was able to showcase his elite reliability for a host of NFL scouts.
Unfortunately, Mazza failed to stick with a NFL team following his collegiate career so he went to work as a fitness coach. He luckily earned a tryout with the Birmingham Iron of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football before getting a shot with the Chargers in 2019. The Chargers eventually chose Mazza over Mike Windt, the team’s longtime stalwart at the position, and he started all 16 games this past season.
Ever since winning the starting job, Mazza has started every game for the Bolts over the past two seasons.
Basic Info
Height: 6’2
Weight: 235
College: Alabama
Experience: 2
Years with team: 2
Contract Status
“Cole Mazza signed a 3 year, $1,755,000 contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, including an average annual salary of $585,000. In 2021, Mazza will earn a base salary of $850,000, while carrying a cap hit of $850,000.” - Spotrac.com
The Good
As a long-snapper, the bar is set pretty low. Do you make all your snaps? You do? Cool. That’s good enough for NFL teams.
The Bad
Nothing to truly nit-pick here. Mazza gets the job done and unless he’s allowing rushers to have a direct path to the kicker/punter, then he’s just fine in my book.
Odds of making the roster/What to expect in 2021?
Usually there isn’t a ton of turnover at the long snapper position in any given offseason, so I do not think the addition of 2021 UDFA Matt Langan will do anything to put Mazza’s job in jeopardy. After a porous year for the special teams, it’s no surprise that the new coaching staff brought in plenty of competition, but I think Mazza’s job is safe for another offseason.