Bill Siderewicz's impact 'immeasurable.' Legendary Martinsville football coach dies.

Indiana high school football lost one of its legendary coaches.

The Martinsville school district announced Bill Siderewicz, 87, died Tuesday.

“Over the past 50 years, no one has galvanized the community of Martinsville on Friday nights, more than coach Bill Siderewicz,” Martinsville athletic director Kip Staggs said.

Siderewicz coached at Martinsville from 1970 to 1999, leading the Artesians to five undefeated regular seasons, 11 South Central Conference championships and two state semifinal appearances. He was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

“The positive impact that Coach Siderewicz had on this community, our school, and mine and so many other young lives is immeasurable,” said Martinsville principal Jeff Bell, a student and player for Siderewicz. “We are so blessed that he and his family came to Martinsville in 1970.”

Martinsville left the football stadium lights on Tuesday night in honor of Siderewicz, who compiled a 272-98 overall record in his career and 234-84 at Martinsville. The 1954 Tech graduate was an All-City football player as a senior in high school, going on to serve in the United States Army from 1954-57 and then playing college football and baseball at Ball State.

Siderewicz started his coaching career as an assistant at Peru from 1961-64 before he was hired as head coach at Rensselaer, where he stayed for six seasons and led the program to a 40-14 record. At Martinsville, he took over a floundering program that went 0-9 and scored 46 points all season in a “basketball town.”

In the decade before Siderewicz’s arrival, Martinsville was 19-82-1.

“I was offered the head coaching job at Penn, Indianapolis Northwest — a new school at the time — and Martinsville, all on the same day,” Siderewicz told the Reporter-Times in 2000. “My wife (Marilyn) and I decided that we’d take the Martinsville job because it was the closest to Houston, Texas. That’s where my wife’s folks and sisters lived, and not having much time to drive, or much money or the most dependable car, we decided that we’d take the Martinsville job because it was the shortest drive. That’s the reason I came here.”

Siderewicz quickly went to work implementing a weight program and Martinsville turned it around quickly with a 9-1 season in his second year. The program had perfect seasons in 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981 and 1982. His son, Joe Siderewicz, was an all-state player for him on the 1981 team and took over for his father as coach at Martinsville. Joe continues to coach on the staff at Center Grove, along with his son, Joey, a former Center Grove quarterback.

“When I came here, the kids wore their honor jackets inside-out,” Siderewicz said in 2000. "Because they had been beaten by everybody so bad, and humiliated that it was embarrassing for them. So I made it my life’s goal to make sure that it didn’t happen to the city of Martinsville again.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: Legendary Martinsville coach Bill Siderewicz dies