Union coach Al Bagnoli to head Quaker football
Al Bagnoli, formerly the head football coach at Union College, was named Penn football coach on January 2, replacing Gary Steele who resigned after posting a 9-21 record during his three seasons as head coach. With Athletic Director Paul Rubincam's announcement, the 38-year old Bagnoli becomes the 21st head coach in the 115-year history of Penn football and the Quaker athletic program's ninth new head coach hired in the last three years. Rubincam, who met his six week deadline to hire a new coach, would not reveal the terms of Bagnoli's contract, but he did say it was a multi-year deal. "Al Bagnoli was our first choice," Rubincam said. "We were looking for a coach that had a winning experience and came from a program that was a winning program. If you look at Al's credentials you can certainly see how that made him the right guy." "I think Union College and the University of Pennsylvania have so much in common. Union College is a very academic institution and it's also need-based recruiting," Rubincam said. "So Al is used to rolling up his sleeves, working with kids and convincing them education comes first and athletics second." The search committee, headed by the chairman of the Material Science and Engineering Department Charles McMahon -- who chaired the search committee which chose Steele -- considered four finalists outside the Penn program in addition to Bagnoli. Bagnoli was offered the position on New Year's Eve. "He came off as being a confident coach," said senior flanker Damon Young, who was on the search committee. "I was looking for someone who relates to the players . . . Immediately after talking with Al, I got the feeling that he is a players coach." During Bagnoli's ten-year tenure at Division III Union, he compiled a 86-19 record, including no losing seasons, four undefeated regular seasons and six trips to the Division III Tournament. In those six trips, the Dutchmen reached the finals twice and the semifinals once. Bagnoli's .819 winning percentage is the fifth highest among all active collegiate coaches. "It's nice to be here," said Bagnoli, a three-time Kodak/AFCA East Region Coach of the Year, "It's really a dream come true to work at a great academic institution." "There is a deep sense of tradition here," Bagnoli said. "Rest assured that my staff and I will be committed to bringing that excellence back and getting a little more excitement back into the football program. [We will certainly look to] bring the program back to the heights it was in the mid-to-late 80s." The first order of business for Bagnoli is to assemble his staff of assistant coaches. Bagnoli plans to sit down with the current Penn assistants with the hope of keeping at least one person to make the transition smoother. One connection is Quaker linebacker coach Ray Priore, who was placed in charge of recruiting after Steele stepped down. Ray Priore is the brother of Union offensive line coach Chuck Priore. Bagnoli inherits a program which has fallen on hard times. The Quakers have not had a winning season since the 1988 season when they went 9-1 to win their sixth Ivy Championship in seven years. In the past three years, Penn has progressively gotten worse, posting 4-6, 3-7 and 2-8 records. Last season's 2-8 overall record, 2-5 in the Ivy League, gave the Quakers a sixth place finish in the Ivies. It was Penn's worst performance since the 1-9 mark during current Temple coach Jerry Berndt's inaugural campaign at Penn in 1981. Berndt, who built the Quakers' decade of dominance, was also a Division III coach at DePauw University before coming to Penn. Bagnoli is used to rebuilding a program quickly. In his first season at the Union helm, Bagnoli produced a 8-1 record -- the Dutchmen's first winning season since 1970. The following season, Union was in the NCAA Division III title game. "Things really worked out well for me [at Union]," Bagnoli said. "We got a couple of early breaks, a very productive first year and the kids and myself just received a tremendous amount of confidence." Depending on the year, Bagnoli's Union teams were known for either their offensive prowess or their defensive stinginess. Last season Union led the nation in scoring with 46.1 points per game. In 1985, the Dutchmen led the nation in rushing defense (46 yards per game) and led in scoring defense in 1984 (4.6 ppg). "Offensively, we believe in a wide open attack," Bagnoli said. "If you look at the history of our program we have always been able to throw the ball well, we have always been able to run the ball well. If we do that, we'll prove to be unpredictable and we'll prove to be exciting." "Defensively, we're always going to be an attacking type of defense," Bagnoli continued. "We can sit back and play zone. I like the mixture and the ability to play man-to-man and the ability to pressure people with multiple fronts and coverages. We will look to use the kicking game as a weapon and win some games with the kicking game." Bagnoli does not feel the transition from Division III to Division I-AA and Ivy League regulations will be that difficult. Division III schools do not give out athletic scholarships to their athletes. At Union, Bagnoli was commended for the excellent balance he struck between athletics and the high academic standards Union sets. "I don't think the actual game is going to be different," said Bagnoli, who has turned down head coaching offers at other Ivy and Patriot league schools in the past. "The major difference is going to be in recruiting. There is more of a national scope here." Two luxuries Bagnoli will have that his predecessors have not enjoyed for many decades will be spring football practice and freshman eligibility. Bagnoli will use this spring period to evaluate the players and get a head start in installing his system. With his first true recruiting class next season, Bagnoli will have the option of recruiting players to immediately step in and play. As for this year's recruiting class, Bagnoli admits Penn probably is somewhat behind in the recruiting game, and subsequently will bring in fewer recruits than in previous years. "We'll be more involved to try and get quality as opposed to quantity," Bagnoli said. "I don't think [the five weeks of lost time] will be disastrous. At the same time I think it would be naive to think that you could miss five weeks and still get the same productivity." The 5-9 Bagnoli, a 1974 graduate of Central Connecticut State College, was a three-year letter winner at defensive back for the Division II Blue Devils. Bagnoli began his coaching career in 1975 as the defensive coordinator at Albany State. In 1977, he moved to the same position at Union before ascending to the head coaching position in 1982.