Former Yale football coach Tony Reno, who led the Bulldogs to 5 Ivy League titles 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... It is the relationships he built and the lives he changed that will define his enduring legacy."
Reno went 83-49 from 2012 to 2025 and was the program's second all-time winningest coach, trailing only Carm Cozza. In 2017, he led Yale to its first Ivy League title since 2006. In his final season, Yale became the Ivy League's first automatic qualifier to the NCAA FCS playoffs and secured the program's first-ever postseason victory. Current coach Kevin Cahill said Reno "valued the important things in life" and "loved his players."
Reno is survived by his wife, Toni, and their children, Dante, Angelina and Vince. Dante Reno, a former four-star recruit, began this season as Yale's starting quarterback but suffered an elbow injury in the opener.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing