Athletics Hall of Fame
Hired in 1977 as the football team’s defensive coordinator, Bagnoli took over the Dutchmen’s head coaching duties prior to the 1982 season and went on to guide the Garnet to a 10-year record of 86-19-0.
During his tenure Union advanced to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the Division III national championship game, twice (1983 and 1989), was invited to the NCAA national championship tournament six times (1983, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’89, and ’91), won the Eastern College Athletic Association North Championship in 1990 (the program’s first ECAC title), captured two Lambert Bowls as the best Division III team in the northern part of the country (1984 and 1989), and helped earn the Dutchmen the ECAC’s “Team of the Year” award in 1983, and ’89). He guided the Garnet to four perfect regular-seasons (1985, ’86, ’89, and ’91), and set a program record for wins in a season (13 in 1989).
Bagnoli, who left Union on January 2, 1992 to take the head coaching position at Pennsylvania, just the 45th Division I head coach to record 170 victories and just the 12th Ivy League head coach to record 80 wins at an Ancient Eight school. Ten of the previous 11 Ivy head coaches to win 80 games have been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
