Yale Athletics

Yale’s football team is turning into a family affair.

Dante Reno ’28 in June announced his commitment to play football at Yale under head coach Tony Reno, his father.

In the spring, the quarterback declared his intention to enter the transfer portal following a redshirt year at South Carolina. After sitting behind a future Heisman favorite, LaNorris Sellers, Dante Reno decided to explore other opportunities with three years of eligibility left.

Dante Reno’s father, Tony Reno, has been the head coach of the Yale football team since 2014 and has won four Ivy League titles during his tenure.

“He’s a defensive guy, so it’s gonna be a little interesting sometimes,” Dante Reno said of his father on the “Off the Leash” podcast with Mason Shipp ’26. “But I think it’ll be very fun, and we both want to win, so that’s really what matters.”

As a high schooler, Reno played his sophomore and junior seasons at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn., before moving on to the Cheshire Academy, where he picked up over 30 Division I Power 4 offers as an All-American.

In 2022, the scouting analyst Gabe Brooks with 247 Sports wrote that Reno had a “strong arm with quick release” and was capable of “accurate throwing on the move.”

Ranked the 36th-best signal caller in his high school class, he chose to play in the SEC at South Carolina. A year later, as a high-three-star recruit in the portal, Reno shook things up when he decided to play in the Ivy League. Reno is the highest-ranked incoming Ivy League transfer of 2025.

Typically, many four and five-star recruits choose to play in what is known as the “Power 4” conferences — the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12. Much of Yale’s roster is filled with two- and three-star recruits. 

When asked by the Athletic about what factored into his decision to commit to Yale, Reno said he was excited about reconnecting with high school teammates in the area, being closer to home and having the opportunity to compete in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, in which the Ivy League will participate for the first time this year.

Dante Reno did not respond to the News’ questions about his situation. Tony Reno did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

As the team heads into the 2025 season, Reno joins two senior quarterbacks, Marshall Howe ’26 and Brogan McCaughey ’26. 

Those three players will continue to battle for the starting position until the season kick-off on Sept. 20 against Holy Cross.