'Penn lifer' Priore debuts as head coach on Saturday

When Ray Priore arrived at Penn in 1987 as a part-time freshman coach, the Long Island native saw it as a first step in his coaching career.

"I saw myself as a young pup just glad to have a job and do something that I loved," Priore said. "But I never saw myself as a Penn lifer."

But the promotions kept coming for Priore every few years until he found himself as Al Bagnoli's associate head coach and defensive coordinator in 2006. In December, Priore was promoted to head coach after Bagnoli retired, only to reemerge as head coach at Columbia.

Priore inherits a team far removed from Penn's glory days, when he was a part of 10 Ivy League championships - nine with Bagnoli - over 28 seasons. Penn finished the 2014 season 2-8. Dating back to November 2013, the Quakers have lost 12 of 14 games, their wins in that span coming against Columbia (0-10) and Cornell (1-9).

Priore hired former Kansas offensive coordinator John Reagan, who coached the Penn tight ends in the late 1990s, as the team continues to move away from a power running game to more of a spread offense. And Priore has known new defensive coordinator Bob Benson - the defensive coordinator at Albany last season - since the two began their coaching careers at Albany.

"When you put together a staff, trust is important," said Priore, whose brother Chuck is the head coach at Stony Brook. "I wanted to bring on two people that had the highest level of expertise in their world. Their resumés are outstanding and I'm blessed to have them."

The Quakers open the season Saturday at Lehigh.

Junior quarterback Alek Torgersen, who passed for 2,689 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first season as a starter, will operate behind a veteran offensive line that could be a strength.

The backfield was beset by injuries that hampered the Quakers all last season. Sophomore Tre Solomon, who led the Quakers in rushing before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game, is healthy. However, the biggest question mark is who will emerge alongside sophomore receiver Justin Watson and replace 2014 first-team all-Ivy wideout Spencer Kulcsar and honorable mention selection Conner Scott.

"We want to spread teams out offensively and create space," Priore said. "That's going to be important for us. There's an opportunity there for someone to step in and step up."

Penn will continue to play a basic 3-4 defense, with returning all-Ivy selections Austin Taps and Tyler Drake as the anchors. There are bigger questions at linebacker and in the secondary. Linebacker Nolan Biegel, second on the team in tackles (58) last season despite missing the last two games, is the only returning starter.

The biggest area of concern is the pass defense, which ranked seventh in the Ivy last season, allowing 272.8 yards per game.