Former Penn football coach Al Bagnoli announces retirement
Bagnoli coached 23 seasons at Penn, where he’s the all-time winningest coach in program history, before taking the helm at Columbia in 2015.
Al Bagnoli announced his retirement as head coach of Columbia football on Friday.
He said he underwent an aortic dissection in February, and cited recovery from the procedure as a reason for stepping down. He will transition to a role within the athletics department where he will mentor Columbia’s head coaches and spearhead fundraising initiatives.
Before taking over the Lions, Bagnoli spent 23 seasons as head coach of Penn football, where he’s the all-time winningest coach in program history. He initially announced his retirement from coaching after the 2014 season with the intention to move to a different role within the Penn athletics administration, but emerged from retirement months later to take the post at Columbia.
Penn won nine outright Ivy League titles under Bagnoli and had three undefeated seasons. Since taking over the Lions, Bagnoli had a 3-4 record against his former team. He ends his career with a 269–134 overall head coaching record.
The Penn-to-Columbia football coaching pipeline will continue, as former Penn football player Mark Fabish is set to take over as Columbia’s interim head coach for the 2023 season. Fabish graduated from Penn in 1997, and was part of Bagnoli’s first recruiting class. He has been Columbia’s associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and tight ends coach since 2016.