Yale’s first football game following the tragic death of former head coach Tony Reno couldn’t have gone better.
Just a day after Yale announced Reno’s death at age 52, Yale defeated Merrimack 41-24, with his son and current Bulldogs quarterback Dante Reno having one of the best games of his college career.
Dante Reno threw for four touchdowns and 298 yards on Saturday, leading Yale to its second win of the season.
“This one’s for you, Dad,” he wrote on X after the match.
After the victory, Dante told reporters that his father would have wanted him to take the field.
“I know him, and I know my dad, and he would want nothing less for me to go out there and play,” Reno said after the game. “Don’t miss practice. Go to school. Be with the guys.”
The elder Reno coached at Yale for 14 seasons, leading the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships and helping them become a conference power.
In its final season last year, Yale was the first automatic qualifier for the FCS playoffs from the Ivy League and earned its first-ever playoff victory with a comeback win over Youngstown State.
He resigned as head coach before the 2026 season due to complications from his illness and finished his tenure at Yale with an 83-49 record, the second winningest coach in program history.
“Tony Reno dedicated his life to serving others and approached each day with humility, compassion and determination. 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 lasting legacy. Our hearts go out to Toni, Dante, Angelina, Vince and the entire Reno family during this time.”
Dante Reno, who transferred to Yale in 2025 to play under his father after starting his NCAA career with South Carolina, previously said his father was the reason he played football.
“He’s everything,” Dante said of his father, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
“The only reason I play football is because of him.”
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