Jack Siedlecki Jack " Sid " Siedlecki ( pronounced ; born July 23 , 1951 ) is an American 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 NFL 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 Harvard head coach Tim Murphy were roommates as assistant coaches at Lafayette . Worcester Tech . In January 1988 , Siedlecki was hired as the head football coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute . In five years at Worcester , Siedlecki compiled a 36 – 11 – 1 record . His 1990 team went 8 – 0 – 1 , and his 1992 team compiled a 9 – 1 record . The 1992 team also made the school ' s first appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs and won the inaugural title of the Freedom Football Conference . Siedlecki was chosen as the 1992 AFCA Kodak District I Coach of the Year . Amherst . In January 1993 , Siedleck was hired as the head football coach at Amherst College . At the time , he said that he had " a great deal of pride " in the winning program he had built at Worcester but added , " Personally and professionally this is a great opportunity . Amherst is one of the finest schools in the country and it will truly be an honor to work there . " At Amherst , Siedlecki replaced Jim Ostendarp , who had been the head football coach at Amherst for 32 years . Siedlecki inherited a program that had gone 0 – 8 , 0 – 7 – 1 , and 1 – 7 in the three years before he was hired . Siedlecki ' s defensive coordinator at Amherst , E . J . Mills , later recalled the first practice at Amherst : " Two of the players came over the hill and down onto the field about five seconds after the rest of the team had lined up . Jack just started to shout . He yelled , ' Are you kiddin ' me ! We ' re trying to turn this thing around and we ' ve got guys late for practice ? We ' re gonna get it done ! We ' re not gonna tolerate this ! No excuses ! Hundred - yard sprints ! Everybody ! Now ! ' The whole team started running ; they ran and ran and ran . They must ' ve done about 25 or 30 sprints in a row . I don ' t think anybody was ever late after that . Jack Siedlecki ' s legend at Amherst was established on that first day . " " The New York Times " reported that " Siedlecki performed miracles at Amherst , " turning a program that had won one game in three years into a consistent winner . In four seasons as the head coach of the Amherst Lord Jeffs , Siedlecki compiled a 20 – 11 – 1 record . His 1996 team finished with a 7 – 1 record and won the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship . He was named the American Football Coaches Association District I Coach of the Year after the 2006 season . Yale . In December 1996 , Siedlecki was hired as the 32nd head coach of the Yale Bulldogs football team . He replaced Carm Cozza , the winningest coach in Ivy League football history . Yale ' s football team had finished 2 – 8 in 1995 and had not had a winning season since 1991 when Siedlecki took over . Siedlecki noted , " I ' ve been at good academic schools . I want to be with the best student athletes . It ' s fun to coach guys who have that kind of intellect . I like those kinds of guys . " At the news conference announcing his hiring , Siedlecki responded to questions suggesting he had been a second choice to Dick Jauron : " Whenever jobs like this open , very good people get involved . I feel tremendously important to be standing here today . Maybe I ' m the last guy standing I don ' t care . I ' m the new head coach at Yale . " In his first three years as Yale ' s head coach , Siedlecki turned the program around from a 1 – 9 record in 1997 to 9 – 1 and a share of the Ivy League championship in 1999 . Siedlecki was named the New England Sports Writer ' s 1999 Coach of the Year for leading the school ' s turnaround in football . In September 2000 , Yale became the first college football team to win 800 games . In Siedlecki ' s 12 years at Yale , his players have been selected as first team All - Ivy League players on 34 occasions . In 2006 , he led Yale to a share of the Ivy League championship after finishing 8 – 2 ( 6 – 1 in conference games ) ; the 2006 team defeated Harvard by a score of 34 – 13 . In 2007 , he led Yale to a 9 – 1 record and was named 2007 New England Coach of the Year by sports writers . At the end of November 2008 , less than a week after a 10 – 0 loss against Harvard and a 6 – 4 season record , and amid criticism from students and alumni , Siedlecki announced his retirement from coaching after 12 years at Yale . Siedlecki , who agreed to remain at Yale as an assistant athletic director , said at the time , " In my 12 years at Yale I feel I have always tried to do what is best for Yale football and the student - athletes that our staff has brought here . I feel this is what is best for Yale football at this time . " Siedlecki compiled a 70 - 49 record as Yale ' s head football coach . Wesleyan . In the summer of 2010 , Siedlecki decided to come out of retirement to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wesleyan University . He stated , " It ’ s an ideal coaching job at this stage of my career . It ’ s Division III , it ’ s a really idyllic place , and it ’ s going to be a big challenge . They haven ’ t won the Little Three in 40 years . " Personal . Siedlecki and his wife , Nancy , have three children : Kevin ; Jackie , and Amy . Siedlecki ' s wife once told a reporter that her husband had an " obsession " with football , and Siedlecki did not disagree . He noted , " I ' m basically football and family ; those are about the only things in my life . I love the game . I love coaching . "