Expectations high for Yale

There were high hopes ahead of the 2021 Yale football season.

But after winning two of the first three games, the Bulldogs stumbled to a 5-5 season. Yet the season could have gone in a different direction — Yale lost four of those games by an average of just under 5 points.

Was Yale better than the record indicated?

“I really feel like you either win or you learn,” Yale coach Tony Reno said on the Ivy League's virtual media day Monday. “You've got a give credit to our opponents. I mean, they they found ways to win those games. I think we didn't do what we had done in the past and find ways to win and I think you give all the credit to them.”

Yale was picked to finished fourth in the league in the preseason media poll. Harvard and Dartmouth were picked to win the league, with Princeton tabbed for third.

The Bulldogs return an experienced roster, led by 23 fifth-year seniors. The Ivy League did not have a season in 2020, so players had the option to return.

So the group includes key players from Yale's 2019 league champion.

After last season, Reno expects the roster to learn from the losses — including the 34-31 loss to Harvard that ended the season.

“We need to grow … and the evidence will be found in the season,” Reno said. “Can we win those close games? The that's the piece of it, right? The difference between first place and fourth place, was the ability to close those games off. And these guys know that and I think that's been our focus … That's the exciting thing for me. I think this team has that DNA to do that. And now we've just got to go prove it.”

Reno said the experienced roster means Yale will have no leadership void.

“It speaks volumes to the culture that the players have created,” Reno said. “These guys could have easily …, graduated, taken a grad transfer, looked at what was important to them. But (they) made the decision that they wanted to do some special as a group. Guys understand what it's like to be a championship team. Understand the sacrifice they need to make, but even more importantly than that, guys that came back together because they wanted to leave the (program) better than they found it. That's who we are as a football program.”