PRINCETON, N.J. – Head coaches and a pair of student-athletes from all eight Ivy institutions met virtually with the media as part of the 2025 Ivy League Football Media Day on Monday.
The program was moderated by former Yale football star and current color commentator for Ivy League games on ESPN linear networks, Jack Ford.
QUICK HITS
Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris – “The Ivy League title race remains at the heart of our season. There are several recent examples of how much an Ivy League championship means to our campuses, alumni, and fans -- and how the Ivy race brings our campus communities together in a way that showcases the very best of our sport throughout the entirety of our season. The opportunity to compete for an automatic qualifier and at-large bids to the FCS Championship adds a new layer to our storied tradition.”
Yale Head Coach Tony Reno – “Our focus is on the day-to-day, week-to-week, one game at a time. One thing that our team does so well is that we are so focused on us. We don’t focus on opponents; we just focus on us and feel strongly that if we play ourselves on a week-to-week basis... And we do it our way, it’ll put ourselves in the best position possible.”
Princeton Head Coach Bob Surace – “This is unprecedented with the automatic qualifier to the league champion and possibly getting more than one team in (to the FCS Playoffs)... In the long history of the Ivy League, it is exciting times... I know our guys are raring to go after a terrific offseason.”
Penn Head Coach Ray Priore – “The word that I’ve used often is discipline. The discipline that you have, the focus. Guys doing their job and executing... This league is as competitive as it’s ever been from top to bottom. Week in and week out it is a dogfight, you better to be able to play for four quarters and play hard.”
Harvard Head Coach Andrew Aurich – “We believe we have the talent to compete with anybody on our schedule this year... The entire team has put in the work this offseason starting in February to put themselves in this position to have the opportunity to compete for an Ivy League championship. So, we’re just all really excited to get started.”
Dartmouth Head Coach Sammy McCorkle – “Our goal is always to prepare ourselves to play for an Ivy League championship year in and year out, but having that playoff opportunity, it’s part of what we talk about all the time about taking this program to the next level.”
Cornell Head Coach Dan Swanstrom – “A big thing for us is we’re trying to figure out who we are and where we’re going. We’re trying to build a foundation for this program that will last a long time. Overall, it’s just excitement to see how good we can be. I don’t know any other way to do it other than one day at a time.”
Columbia Head Coach Jon Poppe – “This summer, guys did a great job sacrificing once again to be here in New York City all summer long with each other developing a chemistry that I think fueled a lot of our success last year... It’s a testament to these guys how much fun they have competing with each other and being around each other.”
Brown Head Coach James Perry – “Our primary goal is to win the league like it has been for 30 years that I’ve been around Brown Football. But knowing that going to the tournament would be a special thing... We talk about having the ability to be the very first team to go to the national tournament. There’s not a lot of times that you get to say you did the first thing in ivy league history.”