Raymond P. Priore (born 1963) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is the head football coach at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, a position he has held since 2015. He was a long-time assistant for Penn spanning 28 years across four decades.

Coaching career

Early years

Priore received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from Albany University in 1986 and began his tenure at Penn as an assistant

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s coach the following year. Priore coached a variety of positions before becoming the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 1998. After 20 years in the program, he became an assistant head coach in 2006. As the defensive coordinator, Priore led the Quakers to several historic defensive accomplishments. For three consecutive seasons, Penn boasted best rushing and scoring defensive in the Ivy League (2008–2010). Additionally, the program finished in the top five for overall defense ( FCS) in 2002, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Between 2005 and 2015, 35 members of Priore's secondaries were named 1st team All-Ivy including NFL draftees Jake Lewko and Brandon Copeland. In 2014, longtime head coach Al Bagnoli resigned following a 2–8 campaign and the university subsequently named Priore as the 22nd head coach of Penn football. Bagnoli is recognized as the all-time winningest coach in Penn football history. In his 28 seasons as an assistant, Priore helped the Quakers to ten

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

championships.

Head coaching

2015

On December 1, 2014, Priore became head coach of Penn after 28 seasons as an assistant in the program. Prior to the announcement, Priore had spent 16 years as defensive coordinator for the Quakers. The Quakers were predicted to finish sixth in their conference. However, in his first year at the helm, coach Priore led his team to a 7-3 overall record and their first

championship since

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. His inaugural season was highlighted by wins over #5 Villanova and #12

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Personal life

Priore's older brother, Chuck Priore, was the head football coach at Trinity College from 2000 to 2005 and

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

from 2006 to 2023.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Penn profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priore, Ray 1963 births Living people Albany Great Danes football coaches Penn Quakers football coaches University at Albany, SUNY alumni People from Long Beach, New York Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York