Eldo P. "Al" Bagnoli (born January 20, 1953) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. He was recently the head football coach at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, a position he assumed from 2015 until 2022. Bagnoli served as a head football coach at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

from 1982 to 1991 and at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

from 1992 to 2014.

Playing and coaching career

Bagnoli played three years of varsity football at

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut ...

, graduating in 1975. He went on to pursue a master's degree at the

University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

and worked there the 1975 season as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

. He was promoted to defensive coordinator after just one season and stayed in that role until moving to

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

Union College in 1978. In 1982, he became head coach for the first time at Union. His first year at Union was the program's first winning season in a dozen years and he posted a winning record every single year during his decade at the school. In 1983 and 1989, Bagnoli and Union reached the NCAA Division III title game and he won Coach of the Year honors twice, in 1983 and 1991. In 1992, he was hired by the University of Pennsylvania and is arguably the most successful coach in that school's history. In 23 seasons at Penn he won nine

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

titles, all of them outright, an Ivy League record. In 1993, 1994, 2003, and 2009 Penn had undefeated seasons. His overall record at Penn is 148–80. He is one of only two coaches at Penn to have 100 wins at that school. His Ivy League record at Penn was 112–49. The only black mark on his record occurred in 1997 when all-Ivy defensive tackle

Mitch Marrow Mitch Marrow (born July 16, 1975) is an American football player and business owner. Marrow attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he starred for the Penn Quakers football team. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 3rd round of ...

was involved in an eligibility scandal. A four-university panel eventually determined that Marrow was not enrolled as a full-time student due to dropping several courses and should not have been considered eligible to play. As a result, Penn offered to forfeit all wins in games in which he appeared. This led to a 1–9 record; the on-field record in 1997 had been 6–4. Two Penn football players have committed suicide during Bagnoli's tenure: senior running back Kyle Ambrogi during the 2005 season, and junior defensive end Owen Thomas in the spring of 2009. The death of Thomas has been attributed to

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

(CTE), the disease linked to concussions.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Columbia profile

Penn profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnoli, Al 1953 births Living people Albany Great Danes football coaches Central Connecticut Blue Devils football players Columbia Lions football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches Union Garnet Chargers football coaches

Playing and coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links