“You guys have really got a good one”: The assessment from Corey Mace’s “football father”
Corey Mace was the first choice when the Saskatchewan Roughriders were looking for a Head Coach.
From the perspective of his “football father,” Mace is also No. 1.
“I coached football for 45 years and, over that time, I’ve had a lot of really great players and special guys, but Corey is at the top of the list,” JG Aegerter says. “I’m awfully proud of all those guys, but Corey has always been a special kid.
“You can’t say enough good things about him. You guys are finding that out now. I just hope he has a lot of success and that you enjoy having him as your Head Coach.”
Mace, who was named the CFL team’s 48th field boss on Nov. 30, was introduced to Aegerter in 2003.
At the time, Aegerter was the Defensive Co-ordinator with the Palomar College Comets, who are based in San Marcos, Calif.
Mace was looking to play football at the next level after graduating from Port Moody (B.C.) Secondary School.
“His dad and his uncle and his aunt lived down the street from me and they knew I coached football at Palomar College,” Aegerter recalls. “Corey wanted to play American football, so when they told me how big he was and how athletic he was and I saw some film, I said, ‘How soon can you get him down here?’ ”
Mace ended up playing defensive end at Palomar, under Aegerter and Head Coach Joe Early, for two seasons. Along the way, Mace became a two-time All-Conference player and someone who was widely recruited by NCAA Division I schools.
Once again, Aegerter’s connections were crucial.
“My alma mater is the University of Wyoming and they were looking for a defensive end, so I said, ‘I’ve got one for you,’ ” he says.
“I sent them Corey’s film and they loved him, so he went to Wyoming.”
By then, the 6-foot-3 Mace was 275 pounds — roughly 50 pounds heavier than the prospect who showed up at Palomar College in 2003.
As a senior with the Wyoming Cowboys in 2006, Mace was a second-team All-Mountain West selection and someone whose talents caught the eyes of evaluators in the NFL and CFL.
After being chosen by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the second round (11th overall) of the 2007 CFL Draft, Mace opted to sign with the Buffalo Bills and eventually spent three seasons with that NFL team.
There was only one snag: All the pre-draft obligations, such as combines, prevented Mace from completing his studies at Wyoming.
Even after Mace ascended to the NFL, he never forgot one of his introductory conversations with Aegerter.
“When a kid gets a full-ride scholarship, that’s the mission when you come to Palomar,” Aegerter says. “Basically, junior college is your second chance to get a scholarship.
“Most of these kids in the States get recruited out of high school. Now you go to junior college to get better and to get your grades better and get re-recruited and go play at a Division I school.
“I always told them when they got in my office and they signed that scholarship: ‘Don’t come back and see me unless you get your degree. You can only play football so long, but the reason why you get a scholarship is to get your degree.’
“With Corey, it always sat on his shoulder and in his ear that I wanted him to finish at Wyoming.”
After finishing up with the Bills, Mace joined the Calgary Stampeders — who by then had traded for his CFL rights — and ended up playing defensive tackle for them from 2010 to 2016.
At the same time, Mace took his remaining university classes online and, in December of 2017, received a bachelor’s degree in social science.
“Corey did everything he could and he got his degree,” Aegerter says. “I’ve had kids tell me they’re going to go back to school and get their degree and then never do it, but Corey was going to do what I kept saying in his ear.
“He was a great student. We never had problems with him at school, so school was never a problem for Corey.
“He did everything he could and he got his degree. I think he’s more proud of that than anything else.”
The degree aside, the year 2017 included two other milestones for Mace.
That was his first season as a CFL Assistant Coach. He was named the Stampeders’ Defensive Line Coach in December of 2016.
As well, Mace was among the 2017 inductees into Palomar College’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Fittingly, he was introduced by Aegerter.
“I think that small-town work ethic came from him,” Mace says. “He’s like my football father.”
Upon being hired by the Roughriders, Mace was asked about the people who have most influenced his career.
Aegerter’s name quickly came to mind. Mace also referenced two long-time members of the Stampeders’ brass — John Hufnagel and Dave Dickenson — along with former Calgary assistant Ryan Dinwiddie, who is now the Toronto Argonauts’ Head Coach.
“I’ve taken pieces from plenty of coaches along my journey, playing and coaching,” says Mace, 38. “It has kind of been a combination of who I am today. I’m not here without any of those guys.”
Dinwiddie, for example, hired Mace as the Argonauts’ Defensive Co-ordinator. He spent the past two seasons in that role after serving on the Stampeders’ staff, under Dickenson.
“Corey called me when he was finished playing in Calgary and said, ‘Coach, I want to go down to Wyoming and coach and finish my degree,’ ” Aegerter recalls.
“I said, ‘That’s a great idea, Corey. I’ve got a hook down there and I know some of their coaches, so we can probably do something there.’
“(The people in Wyoming) were going to have him come down. Then he got the offer from Dave Dickenson.
“I said, ‘He offered you a job as the D-line Coach and it’s a full-time job. Do you know how many guys coach for five years, eight years, 15 years to get a full-time job in the NFL, at the college level, or in the CFL? You’re getting one right after you’re finished playing.’
“He said, ‘What should I do?’ I said, ‘Take that job. Take it! You can always get your degree,’ so he took the job and he did his degree online.”
Now he has taken his coaching career to another degree — as the Roughriders’ chief strategist.
“With his work ethic, along with his personality and his charisma, there was no question that he was going to go places,” Aegerter says.
“It doesn’t surprise me whatsoever that Corey has gone where he has gone.
“There’s nothing fake about Corey Mace. What you see is what you get.
“You guys have really got a good one.”
