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Penn football coach Al Bagnoli to retire

Penn football coach Al Bagnoli is set to announce his retirement, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed to me Tuesday afternoon.

Penn football coach Al Bagnoli will retire after the 2014 season, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed to me Tuesday afternoon.

A press conference has been called at Penn's Weightman Hall for 11 a.m. Wednesday morning to make the news official.

The Inquirer's Mike Jensen reports that Bagnoli's succesor is in place:

According to a source, Al Bagnoli will coach Penn's football team next fall and then be succeeded by Quakers def coordinator Ray Priore.

This year will be Bagnoli's 23rd at Franklin Field. He has delivered nine Ivy League titles in that span. The 61-year-old is the active wins leader in the Football Championship Subdivision, and is one of just six coaches in FCS with 200 or more career wins. He has the second-highest winning percentage in Ancient Eight history.

Fittingly, Bagnoli's final game at Franklin Field will be against Penn's signature rival, Harvard, on November 15. Since Bagnoli took the helm in 1992, either the Quakers or Crimson have won at least a share of the league title in all but six seasons. And in almost every campaign, the Penn-Harvard game has some kind of impact on the title race.

Bagnoli's first home game of his farewell campaign will be on September 27 at Franklin Field, against Villanova and longtime friend Andy Talley. It will be Bagnoli's last chance to end the Quakers' 103-year losing streak against the Wildcats.

Penn's 2014 season starts on September 20 with a trip to Jacksonville, and ends on November 22 at Cornell. The full sechedule is here.

I'll update this post with more details as soon as they become available.