Center Grove assistant coach Joe Siderewicz has been fortunate to sample a variety of football lives the past 35 years.
The surname immediately screams “Martinsville” thanks to the legacy of his father, Bill — the Artesians’ head coach from 1970-99 who ranks 18th in the state in career victories.
A portion of those 269 wins came with Joe as a wide receiver during the 1979-81 seasons. The son also served as his old man’s offensive coordinator from 1991-99 before succeeding Bill as Martinsville’s head coach prior to the 2000 season.
Ironically, his final game with the Artesians was a 20-7 sectional loss at Center Grove in 2006. Siderewicz became part of coach Eric Moore’s coaching staff the following season.
Donning a headset as the quarterbacks/receivers coach, he enjoys an elevated — and weatherproof — vantage point for every Center Grove game.
During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, he helped with the play calling while his son, Joey, was the team’s starting quarterback.
Siderewicz, 52, who is in his first year teaching U.S. history and geography at Center Grove High School after previously teaching at his alma mater, took time for a Q&A with the Daily Journal:
Q: What was it like being a Siderewicz in Martinsville as a teenager in the 1970s and 1980s?
A: It was hard at times. My dad was a genius most of the time because we won most of the time. When I was in high school we hardly ever lost a regular-season game. It was a lot of fun because I just loved being around football and all the enthusiasm and camaraderie of our teams and the town. That part of it was fantastic. But when you play for your dad it is a little tougher at times because if you score a touchdown or you have a great game, well, you should because your dad throws you the ball all of the time. If you don’t have a great game, then you shouldn’t have been in there.
But I think as you get a little older you learn to block all that out and realize it’s totally meaningless. The only thing that matters is doing the best you can, doing what you think is right and playing for yourself and for your team. You’re never going to shut everybody up. Somebody is always going to have the last word because you can’t win every game. You learn to block it out, and that’s what you do as a coach. If you spend too much time thinking about criticism, you’ll lose your ability to coach.
Q: Describe the pressure of succeeding your father as head coach. Would it have been easier to serve the same role at a different high school?
A: It definitely would have been. And to come back (to Martinsville) probably would have been a better route. But, at the same time, it’s not like college where you make so much money you can pick your family up and move. When you are a teacher and that is your main income, and your wife has a job and your kids are settled in, to pick them up and just move somewhere else just because you want to do it … sometimes it works out when you’re younger. But in my situation, that’s not how it worked out.
I enjoyed being the head coach there. We had some really good teams. Probably the hardest thing in a small town when you follow someone, like I followed my dad, you do pick up some of his enemies. Maybe you didn’t play this guy’s kid and he’s related to this person that’s friends with that person. Sometimes if you come in from somewhere else and no one knows you, you have about a three- or four-year honeymoon period. I didn’t get the honeymoon period.
Q: While you’re not the head coach here, it is Center Grove, which means there are lofty expectations. How is this job different?
A: It’s just been a lot of fun. The best part about coming here and coaching for Eric is he’s out of the same mold as my dad. He’s intense, serious and pays attention to every little detail, and I wouldn’t want to coach at a place that does it any other way. That’s exactly how I was raised. After coaching for my dad, it was a very easy transition.
Q: Talk about the emotions of coaching while your son was the team’s starting quarterback. Did that make the overall process more or less enjoyable?
A: Just being a coach so long and being a coach’s kid myself, I don’t think the stress really got to me. You think about it a little bit because you want your kid to succeed just like any parent, but honestly, it was probably the most fun I ever had. Joey is a big football junkie himself, so he loved to come home and analyze the film. That made it a lot of fun. (Laughing) But, yeah, it has been a little more relaxed this year.
