According to 3downnation’s Justin Dunk current Hamilton Tiger Cat coach and former McMaster Marauder head coach Stefan Ptaszek is accepting the position as Offensive Coordinator with the UBC Thunderbirds. He will continue to reside in Ontario and reside in Vancouver during the football season. This also puts to rest speculation that Ptaszek was going to take the vacant University of Toronto head coaching position.
Stefan Ptaszek was named Offensive Coordinator and Receivers Coach of the Tiger-Cats on May 5, 2016. Ptaszek joined the Tiger-Cats after spending 10 seasons (2006-15) as Head Coach at McMaster University, posting an overall record of 73 wins and 29 losses, including playoffs. During that span, he was named the OUA Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2014) and also recognized as the CIS Coach of the Year in 2012. His teams made the playoffs in every season with three Yates Cup (OUA) Championships (2011, 2012, 2014), and, subsequently, three Vanier Cup appearances. Ptaszek became the first coach in school history to lead the Marauders to a national football championship by winning the Vanier Cup in 2011, and he led McMaster to the longest winning streak in CIS history with 21 consecutive victories spanning over the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
In 2015 under Ptaszek’s watch, McMaster quarterback Asher Hastings set a new CIS record for TD passes in a season with 31. Two Marauder receivers also had significant success, as Dan Petermann set a team record with 61 receptions and Danny Vandervoort led the CIS with 12 touchdown receptions, also a new school record. McMaster placed 11 players on the OUA 1st and 2nd all-star teams, and saw Vandervoort named a 1st-team All-Canadian.
Prior to joining the Marauders, Ptaszek spent three seasons (2003-05) as Offensive Coordinator at Wilfrid Laurier University, helping coach the Golden Hawks to a Vanier Cup in 2005. He also served as Special Teams Coordinator at the University of British Columbia for two seasons (2001-02), and captured Waterloo County Titles in 1995-96 and 1997-98 with the Burlington Nelson Lords and Southwood Secondary School, respectively.
As a player, Ptaszek played four seasons in the Canadian Football League with the B.C. Lions, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts. He was originally selected by the Lions and current Tiger-Cats General Manager, Eric Tillman, in the first round, ninth overall, in the 1994 CFL Draft. The 5-11, 175-pound receiver played university football at Wilfrid Laurier from 1990-1994 where he was a three-time All-Canadian and a member of the Vanier Cup Championship team in 1991. He was inducted into the Golden Hawk Hall of Fame in 1999, and still holds the Wilfrid Laurier record for career yardage and receptions.
Ptaszek holds an Honours Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier, Bachelors of Education from the University of Toronto, and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of British Columbia.
Ptaszek and his wife, Karen, have three children: Christopher, Anna and Stefan.
With files from ticats.ca
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
