HAMILTON — Things were a little different for Stefan Ptaszek when he started this year’s football season.
First was the colour he wore to the stadium. It went from maroon to black and gold. Second was his role on the team. The 45-year-old switched from head coach to offensive coordinator.
And third were the players he was coaching. Shifting from student athletes, looking to play football while gaining an education, to professional athletes, who were already well on their way into their football careers.
Ptaszek accepted the role of Offensive Coordinator for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in May – just before the 2016 season had begun. Before his first ever CFL job, he spent his entire coaching career at the CIS level, including the last 10 seasons at McMaster University.
Stefan Ptaszek spent ten seasons as head coach of the Marauders at McMaster University (McMaster University)
“In my 13 years coaching at the CIS level, a CFL opportunity had not presented itself,” said Ptaszek. “I engaged and educated myself on this institution and this opportunity and felt like it was a once in a lifetime thing that we had to look at very seriously.”
The transition from guiding students on, and off, the field to working with professional athletes was almost seamless for Ptaszek with both clubs full of players with a willingness to learn and a passion for the game of football.
And as he spends more time with the Tiger-Cats this season, he more often than not finds himself filling the role of the student instead of the teacher.
“The players are a little older and a little wiser and certainly more athletic and the level of play is a big jump,” he said. “They’re engaged solid young men across the board.
“It’s been a privilege to work with them and learn as much from them as I could possibly teach them.”
With the McMaster Marauders, Ptaszek was named OUA Coach of the Year twice (2012 and 2014) and was also named the CIS Coach of the Year in 2012.
He led his Marauders to the playoffs in every season since taking over the head coach role in 2006 and won three Yates Cup Championships (2011, 2012 and 2014). Ptaszek made three Vanier Cup appearances and helped McMaster win their first-ever national championship in 2011. He also led the club to a 21 consecutive winning streak spanning over the 2011 and 2012 seasons – the longest streak in CIS history.
“He was like family. He was just such a good guy. He was one of those guys that you could always go talk to.”
Mike Daly
Current Tiger-Cat, and former Marauder, Mike Daly spent countless hours with Ptaszek during the defensive back’s time at McMaster. Daly donned the maroon for five seasons, including in 2011, where he played a role in the team’s Vanier Cup victory.
“He was like family. He was just such a good guy. He was one of those guys that you could always go talk to,” said Daly. “He was always happy and he always brought his family around.
“It was cool to see a down-to-earth coach, not the coach that’s sitting there yelling and screaming the whole time and then you have no relationship with him. He was one of those guys that everyone had a relationship with.”
While Daly and Ptaszek don’t engage in X’s and O’s together on a regular basis – with Daly suiting up on defence and his former coach running the offence – the two still find time to keep the relationship they built at the university going strong.
“In practice I’ll always sit over (near him) and I’ll laugh at him a little bit because I’m trying stop what he’s drawn up,” said Daly. “It’s just one of those things where we’re always laughing still. We’re still really friendly to each other.”
As a native of Burlington, Ont., and current resident of Dundas, Ont., both of Ptaszek’s coaching roles have been in his own backyard, giving the bench boss the chance to spend as much time with his family as possible.
And family, according to Ptaszek, was a major factor in the decision to move to the Tiger-Cats. From the coaching staff, to the offence, to the defensive line, the Ticats are a family-driven team, and the 1994 first round CFL draft pick saw an opportunity he knew would be a great fit for himself, his wife, and his three children.
“It was part of the reason this was a possible move. McMaster was so supportive in having my kids run around at practice and (they were) wearing maroon at games with face paint.
It’s all the same here, it’s just black and gold now.”
