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When Tony Reno was a senior in college, his football coach told him, You should do something you love.” Tony Reno loved football, so he took an internship at a small Pennsylvania school, making $3,000 a year. That was 1997. Today, Coach Reno has won 4 Ivy League championships, sent players to the NFL, and turned Yale football into a powerhouse. But that’s not what I think is most impressive about him. I love that Coach Reno evaluates his players on living up to their values, on living by the Yale football creed, and on leaving the jersey better than they found it. Coach Reno is about building leaders. He uses football as a vehicle to do it.

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The Learning Leader Show

  • In Patient Pursuit of Greatness – In the spring of 2012, General McChrystal was teaching a leadership class at Yale. That’s when he met Tony Reno. He said about the meeting, “Not many things materially affect my trajectory. But this time was different. What was different? Coach Reno.”
    • The Power of Strategic Relationships – Reno reached out to General McChrystal at Yale to help reconnect his team with the university. “I had a lunch with him and kind of gave him my vision… and he said, ‘I’d love to help.’ And that started the most meaningful relationship of my life.”
  • Leave the Jersey Better Than You Found It – Core philosophy that creates legacy thinking: “The goals of our program are you leave the Jersey better than you found it… You plant trees you’ll never see grow.” This mindset transforms short-term players into long-term builders.
  • The team creed, a pledge written by players on Team 142 (the 2014 squad), as they do at the start of every practice: “I vow to believe in the process, I am mentally and physically tough, I compete with passion and overcome any challenges. I stand tall alongside my family at all times, I challenge my brother, believe in him, hold him accountable. As I create my own path I always put team before myself, I strive for excellence on and off the field, I hold myself to a higher standard. I am a Yale football player.”
    • Player-Created Creed Drives Culture – Team 142’s leadership council created the team creed that still guides the program. “Every player on the team to have a Y on their helmet needs to be able to stand in front of their teammates and recite the creed. And it has to be perfect.”
    • Standards – Every player must recite the creed. The younger players are coached by the older players.
  • The Brick Tradition Builds Vulnerability – Six-sided bricks represent hero, hardship, hometown, highlight, teammate impact, and one word for the season. “The things that you find out about guys is remarkable… thank them for being that open and vulnerable with their teammates.”
  • His players went to bat for him. On December 28, Casey Gerald ’09, a cornerback, and 63 other former players sent a letter endorsing Coach Reno’s candidacy to athletic director Tom Beckett, and later to president Richard Levin and provost Peter Salovey. 12 days later, he earned the job.
  • Gettysburg Retreat: Annual trips with seniors to study leadership under pressure: “We’re trying to get this group of people to take the next step of being that much more connected together… how do we get up one more notch of being a group that really wants to do things for each other, not for themselves.”
  • Team Numbering Creates Legacy Ownership – “We’re the first school in Division one football to number our teams… this year’s team is the 152nd team of football at Yale.” Each team understands they’re part of a continuum and must improve upon what they inherited.
  • Presidential Leadership – Lead people, but don’t do it for them
  • Recruiting Through Character Assessment – Current players evaluate recruits’ character fit: “Last year we had three players we brought on campus… we didn’t take in the class three really good players and they explained to me why. And I said, ‘okay man, it’s your team.'”
  • Coach Reno names a player of the day for each practice. The one who lives out their values and the Yale football player creed.
  • Process Over Results Creates Results – “Our players have really elevated… now it’s like, hey, we wanna be an elite team, and to be an elite team, we need to do these things.” Focus on daily excellence in character and effort.
  • Find Your Passion and Leave It Better – Reno’s life advice: “Find your passion because it’s gonna be a lot more fun going to work each day doing something you have passion for… find a way to leave it better than you found it.” Life/Career advice – Help you become the best version of yourself in all you do. Make you an elite leader. Maximize you as a football player. Help you find your passion.
  • Apply to be part of my Learning Leader Circle
Resources:

More Learning:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 216: Jim Collins — How To Go From Good To Great

Episode #300: AJ & Keith Hawk – How To Instill Work Ethic & Curiosity In Your Children

Episode #303: General Stanley McChrystal – The New Definition Of Leadership

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