Yale coach Tony Reno stepping down due to health issues

Yale football coach Tony Reno is stepping down from his role in charge of the Bulldogs due to health reasons, the school announced Tuesday.

His departure comes after the school announced on Dec. 8 that Reno would be taking a medical leave of absence.

Reno, 52, led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships and the first FCS playoff victory in program history across 14 seasons from 2012 to 2025. He leaves Yale with a career record of 83-49 as the school's second winningest all-time coach, trailing only legendary Bulldogs coach Carm Cozza, who won 179 games and claimed 10 league titles from 1965 to 1996.

A national search for Reno's replacement will begin immediately, the school announced.

"Given my current health situation, I have made the decision to step down as head coach of Yale Football," Reno said in a statement. "When I arrived at Yale 14 years ago, I could never have imagined what this journey would become. The relationships formed, the moments shared, and the people I have been privileged to be surrounded by have changed my life and my family's lives forever. I am deeply grateful to the players, the coaches, and the staff who gave everything they had to Yale Football."

The school did not detail Reno's specific heath issues.

Reno spent six seasons as an assistant at Yale from 2003 to 2008 before he took over the program in January 2012 following a three-year stint on staff at Harvard.

In 2017, Reno led the Bulldogs to a 9-1 finish and the school's first Ivy League title since 2006.

This past fall, in Reno's final season with the program, Yale became the Ivy League's first automatic qualifier to the NCAA FCS playoffs and erased a 28-point deficit in a dramatic come-from-behind win over Youngstown State to secure the program's first-ever postseason victory.

A two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year honoree, Reno ultimately led the Bulldogs to six winning records over his final eight seasons with the program and won seven of his last nine meetings against rivals Harvard.

His son Dante, a former four-star recruit who began his college career at South Carolina, is set to return as Yale's starting quarterback in 2026 after throwing for 2,498 yards and 21 touchdowns in his debut season with the Bulldogs last fall.