Jack will not be back at Yale

[bulldog10jw]

Even a good guy HAS to beat Harvard once in a while

http://portal31nhr.blogspot.com/

When Jack Siedlecki spoke about changes coming to the Yale program following yet another offensive meltdown at the hands of Harvard on Saturday afternoon, he had no way of knowing he would be among those moving on.

On Tuesday night word got out that Siedlecki was not going to be back for his 13th season as Yale's coach. He will not be fired, that is not Yale's way. Instead he will be reassigned. He has been offered a position as an assistant athletic director and will be meeting with university officials on Wednesday to speak about his future at Yale.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/11/26/sports/doc492d4698298d3333531477.txt

By Jim Fuller, Register Staff

Jack Siedlecki is expected to retire today as Yale’s head football coach to accept a position as an assistant athletic director at the university a source close to the program confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Footballscoop.com first reported Siedlecki would not return as coach.

Siedlecki was 70-51 in 12 seasons at Yale including a 23-7 record the last three seasons. But the 2008 team, which was the co-favorite to win the Ivy League title, finished with a 6-4 record despite having the No. 1 scoring defense among Football Championship Subdivision teams.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is that Yale lost to rival Harvard seven times in the last eight years, and three times in the last five years the Bulldogs failed to score an offensive touchdown against the Crimson.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

xeekx

I'm shocked by this move. Yale had been much, much better in the last three years, and won a co-championship too - however, the year they won the co-championship, they didn't get the bonfire (which is given to the H-Y-P winner) since Princeton beat both Yale and Princeton that year. Did 2006 basically not "count" as a result?

I don't think Sidlecki, IMO, will stay out of work for long. He's a good coach that deserved better.

[bulldog10jw]

xeekx

I'm shocked by this move. Yale had been much, much better in the last three years, and won a co-championship too - however, the year they won the co-championship, they didn't get the bonfire (which is given to the H-Y-P winner) since Princeton beat both Yale and Princeton that year. Did 2006 basically not "count" as a result?

I don't think Sidlecki, IMO, will stay out of work for long. He's a good coach that deserved better.

He was considered a good recuiter, but a poor game day coach. In addtion to his record against Harvard, Yale lost many games, including the Princeton game in 2006, in which they had leads at halftime. Some of those leads double digits. I cannot recall any games in which they were DOWN double digits and came back to win. Halftime adjustments were non-existant.

Overall, in 12 years at Yale, Jack managed just two "shared" Ivy titles. Since football is the only sport of any consequence at Yale, that's not good enough.

[Pards Rule]

Maybe he wants to return as OC at Lafayette?

[YaleFootballFan]

This isn't surprising at all. Yes, Siedlecki had a winning record at Yale, but the bottom line is he couldn't beat Harvard and he couldn't win the "big" games.

Prime example, last year Yale was 9-1. NOBODY at Yale talks about the 9 wins. Instead EVERYONE talks about the 1 loss. The Harvard Game makes or breaks your season.

Yale hasn't won the H-Y-P crown in 9 years; and Yale has only won it TWICE in Jack's 12 years. There's a lot of pressure from the alumni to win the Princeton and Harvard games (Coach Carm Cozza can attest to that). Yale may play a 10 game schedule, but to the alumni, its the last two that matter the most. Win both those games and your season is a success.

Looking ahead I have no idea who Yale will hire to replace Siedlecki. I'm sure Yale will go after someone with experience. Perhaps if the Buffalo Bills fail to make the playoffs, we may see Dick Jauron as Yale's next coach. I know that would get a lot of Yale fans excited.

[Ivytalk]

Wow! If the shoe was on the other foot, i.e., if Tim Murphy had lost 7 of the last 8 Yale games, but his record was otherwise good, I'm not sure that Harvard would have "reassigned" him. I just think Yale's alums are a tougher group than Harvard's.xpeacex

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Wow! If the shoe was on the other foot, i.e., if Tim Murphy had lost 7 of the last 8 Yale games, but his record was otherwise good, I'm not sure that Harvard would have "reassigned" him. I just think Yale's alums are a tougher group than Harvard's.xpeacex

You have to take into account that Sidlecki "rebuilt" the program into one that is now a consistent winner. Take it from a Lehigh fan that beating Holy Cross and Brown this year was no mean feat.

You could make a very cogent argument that if McLeod hadn't broken his toe last year, Sidlecki would have a job today.

[YaleFootballFan]

You could make a very cogent argument that if McLeod hadn't broken his toe last year, Sidlecki would have a job today.

A healthy McLeod would not have made a difference in the loss to Harvard last year.

This year, with the number of close losses, your point is valid. If McLeod was 100% (and our OL was halfway decent) Yale might have won all 10 of its games this year.

[brownbear]

You have to take into account that Sidlecki "rebuilt" the program into one that is now a consistent winner. Take it from a Lehigh fan that beating Holy Cross and Brown this year was no mean feat.

You could make a very cogent argument that if McLeod hadn't broken his toe last year, Sidlecki would have a job today.

The problem was that this year, Yale came in with expectations to win the Ivy League or at least match their performance from the last several years, but instead they went 6-4 and finished 4th in the Ivy League. It was not just McLeod that made the season a "failure," but all of the offensive problems. Do I think they should have fired him? No, but when you have a "bad" season after expecting consistent success, someone has to take the blame.

[HoyaMetanoia]

After the game on September 20th, if you had asked me which of the two coaches would be out at the end of the year, I would've never guessed it would be Siedlecki.

I guess he didn't get the customary 1 extra year for beating Georgetown.

[Harvard Worship]

Rats. I'm going to miss the discussions about whether/how quickly Jack Siedlecki should be fired. It's amazing the pressure there is at Yale to win THE GAME. Siedlecki actually had a great record recently & put together good teams. Killer defense this year, too.

[bulldog10jw]

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/11/26/sports/doc492d4698298d3333531477.txt


Yale football coach Jack Siedlecki announced his retirement as football coach and accepted a position as assistant director within the athletic department today.


“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished over 12 years, going from 1-9 to 9-1 in three years, winning two Ivy League championships and playing with the title on the line in the final game of the season the past three years,” said Siedlecki in a statement. “I have been given an opportunity to stay affiliated with Yale Athletics for the balance of my career, and I deeply appreciate that.”

[YaleFootballFan]

Best of luck to Jack in new position as assistant AD.

Moving forward, who will be our next coach? Several fans here have mentioned former Fordham head coach and current Tennessee assistant coach Dave Clawson as a possibility.

Clawson's Bio (http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/clawson_dave00.html)

[bulldog10jw]

Best of luck to Jack in new position as assistant AD.

Moving forward, who will be our next coach? Several fans here have mentioned former Fordham head coach and current Tennessee assistant coach Dave Clawson as a possibility.

Clawson's Bio (http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/clawson_dave00.html)


Hopefully, they had some people in mind. This possibilty, Jack moving on, must have been discussed since the Penn game.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Best of luck to Jack in new position as assistant AD.

Moving forward, who will be our next coach? Several fans here have mentioned former Fordham head coach and current Tennessee assistant coach Dave Clawson as a possibility.

Clawson's Bio (http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/clawson_dave00.html)

Has Clawson fallen that out of favor at Tennessee?? Last I heard (and admittedly I am way out of the loop) he was in line to take over for Fullmer after he retires this year. So if Yale got him it would mean that there would have been a catastrophic falling out with the Vols.

Not to mention that Clawson is a spread-offense pass-happy coach - the diametric opposite of Sidlecki.

[bulldog10jw]

Not to mention that Clawson is a spread-offense pass-happy coach - the diametric opposite of Sidlecki.

Not necessarily. Before McLeod, Yale passed the ball more than they ran, sometimes by a lot. Against Harvard in '99, (Yale's last win against Harvard in the Bowl) QB Joe Walland threw 67 passes.

[OB55]

Not necessarily. Before McLeod, Yale passed the ball more than they ran, sometimes by a lot. Against Harvard in '99, (Yale's last win against Harvard in the Bowl) QB Joe Walland threw 67 passes.

xhomerx

[OB55]

Hopefully, they had some people in mind. This possibilty, Jack moving on, must have been discussed since the Penn game.

xhomerx

[YaleFootballFan]

Not to mention that Clawson is a spread-offense pass-happy coach - the diametric opposite of Sidlecki.

As Bulldog pointed out, before McLeod, Yale passed the ball quite a bit. In fact, 4 of Yale's top 5 all time passing attempt leaders were under Jack Siedlecki.

1. JOE WALLAND 97-99 - 787
2. ALVIN COWAN 00-04 - 733
3. Kelly Ryan 85-87 - 653
4. JEFF MROZ 02-05 - 609
5. PETER LEE 99-01 - 570