Jack Siedlecki, who compiled an impressive coaching record at Amherst College, has been named the head football coach at Yale. Coach Siedlecki succeeds Carm Cozza, who had announced in September that his 32nd campaign at the helm of the Bulldogs would be his last.
In four seasons at Division III Amherst, Coach Siedlecki's teams went 20-11-1. In 1996 he was named American Football Coaches Association District I Coach of the Year after going 7-1 and winning the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship. He had taken over the Amherst program following a 0-8 season in 1992.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to coach at a place that is so rich in tradition. The goals of the program are clear to me -- beat Harvard and win the Ivy title. I'm not sure which is more important, but that is what we will work towards," said the 32nd head football coach in Yale gridiron history.
"Jack Siedlecki is a coach who has proven that he knows how to win, and he has done an excellent job in many situations," said Director of Athletics Tom Beckett. "We were thrilled when our search committee found him, and we look forward to working with him to build an Ivy League contender and eventually a championship program."
At the Dec. 19 press conference announcing his appointment, Coach Siedlecki said he decided a decade ago that he wanted a career coaching non-scholarship student-athletes. "This is the ultimate goal for Jack Siedlecki," he said of leading the Yale football program and the current players with whom he had met. "It's fun to coach guys who have that kind of intellect."
The new coach was accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and their three children -- Kevin, 13; Jackie, 11; and Amy, 8 -- all of whom wore attire with the Yale Athletics' logo for the occasion. "They all look pretty good in blue and white," the new coach said approvingly.
Prior to moving to Amherst, Coach Siedlecki had a 36-11-1 mark in five campaigns as head football coach at Division III Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where his 1990 team went 8-0-1 and the 1992 squad had a 9-1 record and was ranked first in the ECAC New England poll, earning him AFCA Kodak District I Coach of the Year honors.
An assistant coach at Albany State 1976-79, Wagner 1980 and Lafayette 1981-87, Mr. Siedlecki has coached three different teams in the national playoffs and his overall head coaching record is 56- 22-2 or .713. He is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned letters playing both running back and linebacker.
Coach Siedlecki's first Bulldog squad will play the traditional league schedule and non-league games against Connecticut, Bucknell and Valparaiso at Soldiers Field, Chicago.
"We'll win with the people who are here," he said. "I'm just itching to get started. This is a great Christmas present."
Assistant coaches named
Five new assistants have joined the Yale football coaching staff since Coach Siedlecki's appointment, including three with Ivy League coaching experience. Rich Flanders, defensive coordinator; Keith Clark, offensive coordinator; Joel Lamb, quarterbacks; Duane Brooks, defensive line; and Shawn Halloran, defense, will work under the new head coach.
Coach Flanders comes to Yale from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was secondary coach for five seasons. He helped coach Penn to Ivy titles in 1993 and 1994, and his defensive backs helped the Penn defense rank nationally in both seasons, including No. 1 in pass efficiency defense for 1994. Coach Flanders holds a degree in physical education from the University of Maine and a master's in education from the State University of New York at Albany.
Coach Clark has been the offensive line coach and running game coordinator at Columbia University the last five seasons. He left his position as offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Wagner College to join the Lions in 1992. He coached the defensive secondary at the University of Maine and Rutgers University prior to that. Coach Clark attended Lafayette College, earning a degree in metallurgical engineering.
Coach Lamb was quarterbacks coach at Amherst the last four seasons. He tutored an All-NESCAC quarterback at Amherst after playing the position in the Ivy League. He majored in psychology at Harvard University, where he was a letterman quarterback, and completed his M.S. in sports studies at the University of Massachusetts this month.
Coach Brooks, the coordinator of football operations at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, was the defensive end coach for Alleghany College in 1995 and had the combined role of defensive line coach and recruiting and special teams coordinator for Johnson C. Smith University in 1994. A University of Maine graduate, Coach Brooks played four seasons for the Black Bears. He began his coaching career at Colby College as the defensive line mentor before going back to his alma mater to coach the defense and serve as video coordinator.
Coach Halloran, best known for his days as the starting quarterback for Boston College 1986-87, joins the Yale staff after serving as offensive coordinator at Georgetown University the last four seasons. He also handled the offensive linemen and coached seven of them to all-league status. He was an assistant coach under Coach Siedlecki at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1992 -- where two of his players earned All-New England honors -- and a graduate assistant coach under Tom Coughlin at his alma mater in 1991. At Boston College, he earned a B.A. in communications.