Message from the Coach

In the case of the George A. Munger Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli, the numbers don’t lie. As the second-winningest active coach in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the winningest active coach in the Ivy League, the only Ivy coach to ever capture seven outright titles, the longest tenured coach in Penn’s 133-year football history and as one of just five coaches in FCS history to record 200 career wins, Bagnoli is clearly one of the living legends in his sport.

It will be a familiar feeling for head coach Al Bagnoli and the Quakers heading into the 2010 season. They are the defending Ivy League champions for the seventh time in his tenure, and by earning the title outright with an undefeated Ivy campaign last year, Bagnoli can now lay claim to more outright titles than any other program has in its entire history.

Bagnoli, who has had just one losing season in 18 years at Penn, guided the 2009 Quakers through some extraordinary adversity early in the year. Penn lost its top three quarterbacks and had to start its fourth-string signal-caller in Week 4. The Quakers won that game, and each of its last eight. The success was mostly due to the defense which finished the year ranked No. 1 in the nation and boasted the co-Ivy League player of the year in All-American linebacker Jake Lewko. The Red and Blue were also the most disciplined team in all of Division I football in 2009, finishing with fewer penalties and penalty yards than any other team, edging out FBS-leader Navy.  

Bagnoli currently stands at 208 career wins, which are oppossed by just 75 losses. His career winning percentage (73.5%) is second among active head coaches. In the final week of the 2008 campaign, the Quakers captured the 200th career win in Bagnoli’s illustrious career. There have been only four other FCS coaches in NCAA history to have accomplished that feat. The Central Connecticut State alumnus has accumulated 122 of those wins at Penn, just three away from becoming the winningest coach in Penn history.

Reading Into The Numbers
You only need to look at the dizzying number in the win column over Bagnoli’s 28-year career to know why he stands apart from his peers.

♦ His 90 Ivy League victories rank him first among active Ancient Eight head coaches and fourth all-time in League history.

♦ Bagnoli won his 100th game at Penn at the start of the 2006 season with the Quakers knocking off No. 22 Lafayette on the road in the season opener. He became just the second Penn coach to reach the century mark in wins, joining the legendary Hall of Fame coach George Woodruff. Only eight other Ivy League head coaches have recorded 100 wins at an Ancient Eight school. Seven have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

♦ The 2003 season did not just mark another championship year, but also another undefeated season for the Quakers under Bagnoli. For the second time in his tenure, Penn had back-to-back undefeated Ivy seasons, going unbeaten in 2002 as well. No other coach in Ivy history has ever led a team to back-to-back perfect seasons in League play, while Bagnoli will have a chance to do it a third time in 2010.

♦ Penn’s dominance under Bagnoli is no more evident than at Franklin Field, where the Red and Blue hold two winning streaks of 16 games or greater under the current head coach. The Quakers rattled off 16 victories at home from Oct. 17, 1992 to Oct. 21, 1995 and won 19 games in a row from Sept. 23, 2000 to Nov. 22, 2003. Bagnoli is 66-25 all-time at Franklin Field.

♦ Penn set an NCAA record with an even more impressive streak that carried Bagnoli and the Quakers through nearly three seasons. The program won 24 consecutive games between 1993-95, winning back-to-back undefeated Ivy titles in 1993 and 1994.

♦ He possesses a winning record against all seven Ivy League teams, and 16 of the 20 teams his Quakers have faced during his tenure. Another number that shouts for attention is 12 — where Penn finished in the I-AA polls after the 2003 season. The Quakers were ranked 20th after the 2009 season and 21st after the 2004 campaign.

The Bagnoli Era - The Early Years
Each season Bagnoli finishes at the helm of the Red and Blue is yet another season’s worth of proof for historians that the Bagnoli Era could be the greatest in the program’s 133 years. It could be argued that Munger or Woodruff turned in more successful reigns at the helm of the Red and Blue. However, its a tough argument when looking at the facts — seven outright Ivy League championships, 122 overall victories, 90 Ancient Eight wins and the FCS' longest-ever winning streak.

The story begins just two days into the calendar year 1992, when on a cold Philadelphia winter’s day Bagnoli was introduced as the 21st head coach of the Red and Blue. His mission was to restore the pride of a program that, despite winning six Ivy banners in 10 seasons, had slipped with three consecutive losing campaigns.

Bagnoli did not disappoint the Penn faithful, immediately guiding the Quakers to a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 third-place finish in the Ivy League, the Red and Blue’s highest in four years. It was also the second-best turnaround in program history and a sign of things to come. One year later, in 1993, Penn returned to the top of the Ancient Eight for the first time in five years, as the second-year coach navigated Penn to just the ninth undefeated campaign in program history (10-0 overall and 7-0 Ivy), and first since 1986.

For an encore, Bagnoli led the Red and Blue to its second-straight perfect season (9-0 overall and 7-0 Ivy) in 1994, making him only the second coach in program history to accomplish that feat (George Woodruff was the first in 1894 and 1895). His back-to-back Ivy championships were Penn’s first multiple titles since winning a record five-straight from 1982 to 1986.

Success Came Early and Often
When the smoke finally cleared from the Quakers’ early ride under Bagnoli, they had also posted a 24-game winning streak dating from Nov. 30, 1992 to Sept. 30, 1995, which still stands as an FCS record (Montana tied, but failed to break it in 2002). Ivy championship number three under Bagnoli came in 1998 and marked a trend of three-straight trips to Ithaca, N.Y., in which Penn returned with the Ivy trophy. The Quakers went 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the Ancient Eight. Bagnoli clinched his fourth Ivy League crown after a convincing 45-15 victory over Cornell at Schoellkopf Field on Nov. 18, 2000. The win not only gave him his fourth Ancient Eight title, but also marked the eighth time in his 11 years at Penn that one of his teams won at least seven games in a season.

His fifth banner came in 2002 and signaled the Red and Blue’s third championship in five years. Penn posted its third nine-win season under Bagnoli in the process, going 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the Ivy League. Penn’s sixth Ivy title under Bagnoli and 13th overall capped a revisit to perfection, as the Quakers finished 10-0 in 2003 and 7-0 in the Ancient Eight for the second-straight season. The Class of 2004 ended its reign in West Philadelphia with a 26-2 Ivy mark and were unscathed at Franklin Field in 19 contests, the only class to leave Penn unbeaten in Franklin Field.

During His Watch
In addition to the team’s success, Bagnoli’s players have also reaped many benefits during his 17 years as head coach. Among the players to have put on the Red and Blue for Bagnoli, three have been drafted into the National Football League (Jeff Hatch in 2002 by the New York Giants, Jim Finn in 1999 by Chicago and Mitch Marrow in 1998 by Carolina); 12 have signed NFL free agent contracts (2007 - Sean Estrada by San Francisco; 2005 - Duvol Thompson by St. Louis; 2004 - Michael Powers by Cincinnati and Ben Noll by St. Louis; 2003 - Vince Alexander by the N.Y. Jets, Stephen Faulk by San Francisco and Rob Milanese by New England; 2002 - Gavin Hoffman by Cincinnati, Kris Ryan by Detroit, Kunle Williams by Cleveland; 2001 - Ben Zagorski by Detroit; 1996 - Miles Macik by Detroit); four have been named Asa A. Bushnell Cup winners as the Ivy League’s Most Valuable Player (Mike Mitchell in 2003, Gavin Hoffman in 2000, Jim Finn in 1998 and Pat Goodwillie in 1994); two were tabbed as the Ancient Eight’s Rookie of the Year (Miles Macik in 1993 and Pat Goodwillie in 1992); six were named first-team All-America (Chris Clark in 2003, Hatch in 2001, Marrow in 1996, Macik in 1995 and 1993, Tom McGarrity in 1995 and Goodwillie in 1994); four earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships (Peter Veldman in 2003, Matt Rader in 1999, John Bishop in 1998 and Michael Turner in 1995); and 131 players have been All-Ivy League selections, including 12 first-team selections in 2003, a League record.

A Union Man
Bagnoli made his collegiate head coaching debut at Union College in 1982, guiding the Dutchmen to their first winning season in 12 years with an 8-1 record. The following season, Bagnoli guided the program to an NCAA Division III title-game appearance and a 10-2 record, garnering East Region Coach of the Year honors.

The Dutchmen were named the ECAC’s Team of the Year for the 1983 campaign. Union reached the NCAA playoffs six times and posted 10-consecutive winning seasons during Bagnoli’s tenure in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1989, Bagnoli guided the Dutchmen to the program’s greatest season ever, rolling to a 10-0 regular-season record and three-straight NCAA playoff victories en route to the NCAA Division III National Championship game (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl). Two years later, Bagnoli received the Eastman Kodak Award as the American Football Coaches Association Region I Coach of the Year.

Prior to being named head coach of the Dutchmen, Bagnoli served as Union’s defensive coordinator from 1978-82. Bagnoli is a two-time recipient (1993 and 1994) of the Scotty Whitelaw Award as the Division I-AA Coach of the Year, voted by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association.

While at Union, Bagnoli’s 1991 team had the nation’s top scoring offense, averaging 46.1 points per game, while his 1984 squad boasted the top defense, allowing a measly 4.6 points per game.

Time For More?
Bagnoli is a member of the FCS rules committee for the AFCA. In 1989, he was the selection chairman of the Albany Chapter of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, which he established. From 1987 to 1991, Bagnoli served as a panel member of the New York State Task Force on Athletics. In addition, Bagnoli was also the Eastern Regional Chairperson for the NCAA Division III All-America teams from 1984 to 1986.


The Coaching Bug Strikes
Bagnoli’s coaching career began while he was pursuing his master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Albany. He served as a graduate assistant coach for one season before becoming Albany’s defensive coordinator from 1976-77.

Undergrad Days
Bagnoli earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and history from Central Connecticut State in 1975. During his undergrad years, he played three seasons of varsity football. Central Connecticut State’s record during that span was 23-5.

Keeping It In the Family
Bagnoli and his wife, Maryellen, reside in Mt. Laurel, N.J. Their oldest son, Jeff, graduated in 2003 from the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn, while youngest son Greg graduated from the College in the spring of 2005. Both lettered and served as captains for the sprint football team at Penn, and also played on the club ice hockey team. Jeff was a member of the Quakers’ 2000 undefeated sprint football championship team, while both won a title on the club hockey team in 2002. Bagnoli’s daughter, Amanda, graduated from the University in 2008 and was a member of the Quakers’ cheerleading team.