Yale Football announced Friday that former head coach Tony Reno has died after an illness.
He was 52.
Reno became the head coach of the Bulldogs in 2012 and served in the position for 14 years before he announced he was stepping down in February due to health reasons.
Under Reno’s leadership, Yale won five Ivy League titles and 83 games, putting him second all time in victories among Yale coaches.
He was named Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2022 after Yale secured the conference title with an 8-2 record.
“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,” athletic director Vicky Chun said in a statement.
“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. Our thoughts are with Toni, Dante, Angelina, Vince, and the entire Reno family during this time.”
“Tony was a man who valued the important things in life,” current Yale coach Kevin Cahill remarked in his 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.”
In Reno’s final season in 2025, Yale became the first automatic FCS playoff qualifier from the Ivy League and advanced to the second round with a 28-point comeback against Youngstown State, securing the Bulldogs’ first-ever postseason victory.
Reno’s son, Dante Reno, opened this season as the starting quarterback for Yale before an elbow injury sidelined him in the opener.
