EmailPrintFormer Yale football coach Tony Reno, who led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships over 14 seasons before stepping down in February due to health issues, has died at the age of 52, the university announced Friday.No cause of death was given."Today, we are deeply saddened by the loss of an extraordinary member of the Yale Athletics family," Yale athletic director Vicky Chun said in a statement. "Tony Reno devoted his life to serving others and approached every day with humility, compassion, and purpose. He believed deeply in the power of mentorship and invested wholeheartedly in the success and well-being of his players, colleagues, and friends."While his accomplishments on the football field were remarkable, it is the relationships he built and the lives he changed that will define his enduring legacy."In addition to the five Ivy League titles, Reno, who stepped down in February and had been on medical leave since the end of last season, led the Bulldogs to their first FCS playoff victory in program history. He went 83-49 from 2012 to 2025 and was the program's second all-time winningest coach, trailing only the legendary Carm Cozza, who won 179 games and claimed 10 Ivy League titles from 1965 to 1996."Tony was a man who valued the important things in life," current Yale coach Kevin Cahill said in a statement. "Family always came first, and that was evident in the special family he built and the love the Reno family shares. As a coach, Tony loved his players and held them to a standard they often didn't know they were capable of reaching. He was hard on them and demanding, but every day, they knew he cared about them."It was never about him or simply about winning championships; it was about developing young men and leaders and helping them become the best versions of themselves. Along the way, we won a lot of football games. Tony will be missed dearly. His impact on so many lives will never be forgotten, and his legacy will forever be a part of the Yale Football family."Reno spent six seasons as an assistant at Yale from 2003 to 2008 before taking over the program in January 2012 following a three-year stint on staff at Harvard.In 2017, Reno led the Bulldogs to a 9-1 finish and the school's first Ivy League title since 2006.Last fall, in Reno's final season, Yale became the Ivy League's first automatic qualifier to the NCAA FCS playoffs and erased a 28-point deficit in a dramatic win over Youngstown State to secure the program's first-ever postseason victory.A two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year honoree, Reno led the Bulldogs to six winning records over his final eight seasons with the program and won seven of his last nine meetings against rival Harvard.Reno is survived by his wife, Toni, and their children, Dante, Angelina and Vince.Dante Reno, a former four-star recruit who began his college career at South Carolina, began this season as the Bulldogs' starting quarterback but suffered an elbow injury in the opener vs. Holy Cross. He threw for 2,498 yards and 21 touchdowns in his debut season last fall as he guided Yale to a 9-3 record and the Ivy League championship.ESPN's Eli Lederman contributed to this report.
