YALE FOOTBALL

Dante Reno returns to lead Yale after family loss

The Bulldogs quarterback threw four touchdown passes against Merrimack on Oct. 3, days after his father, former Yale coach Tony Reno, died.

Rafael Moura

Epic storyteller

American football NFL, NCAA and ONEFA news Epic storyteller

Yale quarterback Dante Reno played against Merrimack on Oct. 3, 2026, one day after his father, former Bulldogs head coach Tony Reno, died at age 52 from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Reno completed 22 of 39 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception, and ran for 39 yards as Yale rallied from a 21-7 deficit to win 41-24. The NCAA FCS report said the performance earned him Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors and the New England Football Writers Association Gold Helmet Award.

A return from injury

The Merrimack game was also Reno’s return from an elbow injury. He had missed the previous week’s game against Cornell, a 38-25 Yale loss.

Reno had opened the season with 454 passing yards and five touchdowns in a win, according to the NCAA FCS report. Yale head coach Kevin Cahill said, as reported by NBC Connecticut, that keeping Reno out against Merrimack was not an option.

Support from Yale teammates and coaches

Tony Reno coached Yale from 2012 through 2025 and coached his son during his final year in charge. Cahill, who had worked under Tony Reno from 2012 to 2022, took over as Yale head coach after Tony stepped down on Feb. 17.

The NCAA FCS report described Dante Reno’s teammates and coaches as a source of support for him and his family after his father’s death. Several current players had been recruited to Yale by Tony Reno.

A difficult performance in context

Reno’s four touchdown passes came one day after his father’s death. The NCAA FCS report noted that Brett Favre also threw four touchdown passes for Green Bay on Dec. 23, 2003, the day after his father died.

The report also recounted examples from other sports, including Kansas City Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez’s return to the mound during the 2015 World Series after his father died. Reno’s game, however, was part of Yale’s Ivy League football season and a 41-24 win over Merrimack.

Newsroom

Yale’s win and Reno’s performance were recorded in the NCAA FCS report published Oct. 8, 2026.

Byline

Rafael Moura

Epic storyteller

Editorial transparency · How this story was created

This article was prepared by the automated Ranko newsroom using tournament data recorded on Ranko Universe at the time of generation. Subsequent updates or corrections may not yet appear here.

This report summarises the results and standings available when it was prepared.

AI-generated editorial illustration. Not a photograph or an official game screenshot.