Tony Reno, who led Yale’s football team to five Ivy League titles, died at age 52.
Yale announced his passing on Friday.
Reno, who took over the program in 2012, had a career record of 83-49 at the time he announced his resignation in February due to health issues. Yale did not announce his cause of death, but the Hartford Courant reported Reno had been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease in August 2025.
Last fall, he led the team to its first FCS playoff berth. He helped Yale overcome a 28-point deficit in the second half of a 43-42 victory over Youngstown State in the first round before the team fell to eventual national champion Montana State in the second. Reno’s tenure also included seven wins in his last nine meetings against archrival Harvard.
Reno was a coach known for teaching players about both football and life.
“As a coach, Tony loved his players and held them to a standard they often didn’t know they were capable of reaching,” said Kevin Cahill, who succeeded Reno. “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 was an assistant coach for more than a decade before being named head coach. He was Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2022.
“Coach Reno understood something generations of us who played at Yale know deeply: Yale Football transforms young men’s lives”, said Patrick A. Ruwe, M.D., who is the president of the Yale Football Association. “That transformation isn’t a tradition — it’s the purpose. He was an extraordinary coach, but his real legacy is how he deepened that purpose — teaching discipline, resilience, accountability, and leadership, and creating opportunities that changed the trajectory of his players’ lives.”
Reno is survived by his wife, Toni, and children Dante, Angelina and Vince. Dante Reno is the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs.
Yale (1-1) is scheduled to play Merrimack on Saturday at noon at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn.
