Jack Siedlecki
Jack "Sid" Siedlecki (pronounced ; born July 23, 1951) is an American former college football coach. He was a head coach in college football for 21 years for Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1988–1992), Amherst College (1993–1996) and Yale University (1997–2008). He led his teams to championships in the Ivy League (Yale in 1999 and 2006), the Freedom Football Conference (Worcester Tech in 1992), and the New England Small College Athletic Conference (Amherst in 1996). He was selected as the American Football Coaches Association District I Coach of the Year after the 2006 season. Early years Siedlecki was born in 1951 in Johnstown, New York. His father, John Siedlecki, was the son of Polish immigrants and served as the head football coach at Johnstown High School for 20 years and later served as the school's principal. Jack was the youngest boy in the Siedlecki family and became a three-sport star at Johnstown High School, playing tailback on the football team, pitcher on the baseball team and point guard on the basketball team. Siedleck's high school basketball coach later recalled that Siedlecki was not a good shooter, but had great vision as the team's point guard: "He could see things unfold before they happened. Some people are born with that ability to see things. Jack was." The same coach recalled Siedlecki's performance as tailback in a game against future World Football League linebacker Ted Jornov:"Jack kept taking these unmerciful poundings from Jornov. He would carry the ball for five yards and Jornov would crunch him. But he'd get up, every time. He must have carried the ball 25 times. That night, Jack Siedlecki showed me what kind of guy he is. He took a physical beating, but he just kept getting up. It was remarkable. ... We won because of Jack. He was the heart and soul of the team." He next attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1974. He played at the running back and linebacker positions for the Union College football team and also played as a pitcher for the school's baseball team. Assistant football coach After graduating from Union College, Siedlecki worked as an assistant football coach for 12 years at the University of Albany (1976–1979), Wagner College (1980), and Lafayette College (1981–1987). He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Albany and later noted that his responsibilities there were unlike any other program: "Everybody who walks out of here is exposed to what it takes to be a college coach." He recalled that the assistants at Albany earned $2,500 to $3,000 a year, and five coaches shared one house for which they paid $225 per month in rent. To support himself, Siedlecki also taught at a local Catholic elementary school, worked as a building supervisor three nights a week and coached junior varsity baseball. After one year at Wagner, Siedlecki spent seven years at Lafayette and served as both defensive and offensive coordinator. Siedlecki and