Upon graduating from Worcester State, Reno began his coaching career as a defensive assistant, under Richard Mannello, for the King's College Monarchs in Pennsylvania.

While his first two years at Worcester State saw losing records, the last three were very successful, and resulted in winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast Bowl in 2001.

[2] Reno's success with the Lancers opened the opportunity as a wide receivers coach, under Jack Siedlecki, for the Yale Bulldogs in 2003.

The Bulldogs mostly hovered around a .500 win percentage during his time at Yale; however, the 2006 season resulted in the team being named co-Ivy League champions, along with the Princeton Tigers.

In 2009, Reno transferred within the Ivy League to work for the Harvard Crimson as a special teams and defensive backs coach under Tim Murphy.