Penn, Columbia face uphill battles in Ivy football

After 23 years on the sidelines, former Penn football coach Al Bagnoli needed just three months to figure out that administrative work was not for him.

"My intention was never to retire," said Bagnoli, who came out of a brief retirement in February to take the head coaching job at Columbia. "I was just going to do something different than coach football. But it became clear to me that it was not something I was going to be doing long-term."

Bagnoli and his successor, longtime Penn assistant Ray Priore, participated in an Ivy League conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

Harvard, which finished 10-0 (7-0 league) last season, was picked in a media poll to repeat as Ivy champion. The Quakers (2-8, 2-5) were picked sixth, and Bagnoli's Lions (0-10, 0-7) were predicted to finish seventh in the eight-team league.

Bagnoli and Priore both have challenging assignments in their new roles.

Priore was an assistant at Penn for 28 seasons. The Quakers have returning depth along the offensive and defensive lines but little anywhere else.

Penn opens the season at Lehigh on Sept. 19. The Quakers also have new coordinators on offense (John Reagan) and defense (Bob Benson).

"It's easy being the copilot for so many years," Priore said. "It's different when you have the wheel in your hands, so you surround yourself with great people to work with. I think I've done that."

Bagnoli takes over what is widely regarded as the worst Football Championship Subdivision program in the country. Columbia has lost 21 straight games - the Lions have not won since November 2012.

"It's a challenge for me and it's a challenge that I look forward to," said Bagnoli, who led Penn to nine Ivy titles. "The school wants to win, we've got great resources, and now we're just going to need some time. I think you mark success by the effort you are getting from the kids this year. I'm not putting a time frame on it, but the expectation is going to be to start winning football games."

Columbia will square off with Penn on Oct. 17 in New York. Bagnoli said it was a good thing that the first meeting between the teams won't be at Franklin Field.

"I've got 23 years of Penn ingrained in me," he said. "I might run into the wrong locker room if the game was there."

The league is rich with quarterbacks this season. Yale's Morgan Roberts, a Clemson transfer, passed for 3,239 yards and 22 touchdowns in his first season. Pro scouts like his size (6-foot-3, 210 pounds). . . . Dartmouth quarterback Dalyn Williams, a first-team all-Ivy selection, passed for 2,119 yards and 21 touchdowns last season. . . . On top of having the best defense in the league, Harvard also has the most explosive running back. Paul Stanton had five touchdown runs of 30 yards or more last season. Two of them - for 42 and 74 yards - came against Penn.

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The Ivy League preseason media poll. First-place votes are in parentheses.

School Points

1. Harvard (11) . . . 130

2. Dartmouth (4) . . . 116

3. Yale (1). . . 98

4. Princeton. . . 82

5. Brown (1). . . 80

6. Penn . . . 51

7. Columbia . . . 29

8. Cornell . . . 26

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