Tony Reno, who led Yale to five Ivy League championships and ranks second in program history in wins, has died after a long battle with a rare illness, his family shared.
Reno, 52, resigned as head football coach Joel E. Smilow ’54 on Feb. 17, citing his health. He had been on medical leave since the end of the 2025 season. In his statement at the time, he called serving as Yale’s head coach “the greatest honor of my life.”
“We sadly announce that former Yale football coach Tony Reno has passed away,” the family said. “Please keep the Reno family in your thoughts and prayers.”
A native of Oxford, Massachusetts, Reno played free safety at Worcester State from 1993 to 1996, starting for three seasons and contributing to two league championship teams. He obtained a bachelor’s degree there in 1997 and a master’s degree in health education in 2000.
He began coaching in 1997 as a defensive assistant at King’s (Pa.), then returned to Worcester State as defensive coordinator from 1998 to 2002. The Lancers went 27-5 during that span, won the 2001 ECAC Northeast title and Reno was named the 2002 AFLAC/Coach Magazine National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Reno joined Jack Siedlecki’s Yale staff in 2003 as wide receivers coach, moved to defensive backs in 2004 and became an assistant head coach, helping the Bulldogs win the 2006 Ivy League championship. He spent 2009-2011 at Harvard as special teams and defensive backs coach, part of an undefeated title team Ivy in 2011, before returning to New Haven as head coach in January 2012. He was the program’s 34th head coach and the first Massachusetts native to hold the position since Ted Coy in 1910.
In 14 seasons, Reno went 83-49 overall and 55-36 in the Ivy League. His 83 victories are behind only Carm Cozza (179) in Yale history. The Bulldogs won or shared Ivy titles in 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025, and have beaten Harvard in seven of the last nine meetings in The Game. The 2017 title was Yale’s first Ivy championship in 37 years.
His final season produced another share of the league title and the Ivy League’s first automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. Yale rallied from a 35-7 halftime deficit to beat Youngstown State 43-42 in the first round – the first FCS team since 2000 to erase a halftime deficit of 28 points or more – before falling in the second round. The Bulldogs finished 13th nationally. Reno was the Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2025 and the New England Football Writers Division I Jack Grinold Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2025. He was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award in 2014.
Yale players under Reno won six Asa S. Bushnell Cups as Ivy League Player of the Year. The program has produced several NFL draft picks in recent years, including linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, who led the league in tackles in 2021 and 2022.
When he resigned, Yale athletic director Vicky Chun said Reno’s impact “extends far beyond championships and victories” and that he “led with integrity, humility and an unwavering commitment to excellence.”
Reno is survived by his wife, Toni; their children Dante, Angelina and Vince; his parents; two brothers and sisters; as well as several nieces and nephews. Dante Reno, who transferred to Yale from South Carolina, is the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback. Reno’s youngest brother, Domenic Reno, is the head strength and conditioning coach for Louisville football.
Please join us in expressing your prayers, condolences and love to the Reno family and all those who were fortunate enough to know Tony.
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