Overview
The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football.
Early history (1890–1970)
Tulane's earliest athletic traditions are tied to its football team. Football was introduced to Tulane by Hugh and Thomas Bayne, who played the game at Yale University. The first organized game was played on New Year's Day in 1890 by dividing students into two teams, and this became the first football game in New Orleans or Louisiana. Tulane did not field a team in 1897, due to being banned from intercollegiate play by the SIAA's commissioner, Dr. Dudley. This sanction was laid down in response to 1896 incident in which Tulane was forced to forfeit a game to LSU due to fielding an ineligible player. The 1899 team lost to the "iron men" of Sewanee. The "Olive and Blue" hit its stride in 1900 with a perfect 5–0 season and SIAA co-championship, beating the Southern Athletic Club, Alabama, Millsaps, LSU, and Ole Miss.
By 1919, Shaughnessy had transformed Tulane into a competitor among Southern collegiate teams. That season, he guided them to a then-school record of seven consecutive wins. In 1920, Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director, The 1920 team tied for the SIAA championship, and was the first called the "Green Wave", after a song titled "The Rolling Green Wave". By 1922, Tulane joined the Southern Conference (SoCon). In 1925 the Green Wave went undefeated, shutting out 6 out of 10 opponents, with only a tie against Missouri to blemish its record. 1926 saw the completion of a new stadium on campus, Tulane Stadium, dedicated to the 1925 team. Former assistant coach Bernie Bierman, who had been head coach at Mississippi State for two years, returned to Tulane to replace Shaughnessy as head football coach for the 1927 season.
Although Bierman was ultimately to lead Tulane football to its greatest heights, his first season ended with a 2–5–1 record. It was a dark period for a program used to better times, but the seed of future success was present in halfback Bill Banker, who was to help Tulane back to football prosperity very quickly. Ted Cox, an assistant to Bernie Bierman since 1927, took over the head coaching reins and the winning tradition continued. The Green Wave lost to LSU for the first time since 1926. and started the tradition of strong defense that was the hallmark of his tenure. Coach Henry Frnka moved to Tulane to take over the football program after leading Tulsa to four bowl bids, including two to the Sugar Bowl. The initial results were disappointing, but Frnka was laying a foundation that would produce significant success for the Green Wave in the late 1940s.
One of the keys to that foundation was New Orleanian Eddie Price, just out of the Navy and about to become one of the most feared rushers in college football. Price played sparingly early in his freshman year, but still led Tulane in rushing with 309 yards. The 1946 team ended with a 3–7 record as military veterans like Bennie Ellender, O.J. Key, Ken Tarzetti, Vic Klein and Don Fortier returned to campus to help Frnka rebuild Tulane football fortunes. and rallied the squad from a 1–3 start to end up 5–5. The offensive highlight of the season was a 46–14 romp over Louisiana College that saw quarterback Fred Dempsey throw five TD passes. In that game, Tulane rushed for 240 yards and passed for 219.
Max McGee led Tulane rushers for the second straight season, but Roy Bailey had some bright moments, rushing for 127 yards against Mississippi State and 121 yards against Vanderbilt. Tulane also went intersectional with its schedule in 1966 and turned in Tulane's only winning team of the decade. Backfield coach Joe Blaylock turned the Tulane wing-T offense into a showcase for the athletic ability of junior quarterback Bobby Duhon, whose 748 yards rushing are the most ever by a Green Wave signal caller. Tulane had failed to score in its three previous season openers, but it was the Green Wave defense that pitched the shutout in the 1966 opener as the Green Wave shut out Virginia Tech 13–0. The next weekend, Duhon scored twice and defensive guard Vic Eumont scored another TD when he recovered a fumble in the Texas A&M end zone as Tulane beat the Aggies 21–13.
Tulane was off to its first 2–0 start since 1949, and the record became a heady 4–1 when, after a loss to Stanford, the Green Wave whipped Virginia and Cincinnati. Against Cincy, Tulane rushed for 387 yards as halfback Pete Johns gained 193 and Duhon added 103 and a pair of TDs. Tailback/defensive back Johns and tight end/defensive end Colquette were two-way performers, among the last of a dying breed as college football went to unlimited substitution. The Green Wave got its fifth win with a fourth-quarter goal-line stand against Vanderbilt, then fought heavily favored Miami to a 10–10 tie to ensure a winning season (the last tie in Tulane history). In the season finale, 83,000 fans packed Tulane Stadium to watch LSU win a hotly contested game in the fourth quarter as both teams finished 5–4–1.
Reality returned to Tulane football in 1967, as the previous season's resurgence to respectability was followed by a downward slide to 3–7.
Bennie Ellender era (1971–1975)
Bennie Ellender returned to his alma mater as head coach, fresh from leading Arkansas State to a college division national championship in 1970. The Green Wave returned quite a few good football players from the previous season's Liberty Bowl champions and excitement ran high. The results, unfortunately, did not match those expectations as Tulane lost its last five games to finish 3–8. Ellender did not lose a season opener in his five years as head coach at Tulane, and Texas Tech was his first victim as sophomore defensive end Mike Truax blocked a fourth-quarter punt to spark a come-from-behind victory. The Green Wave dropped its next three games, then rallied back to beat North Carolina and Pittsburgh to even the season record before going into a five-game slide.
Senior wide receiver Steve Barrios missed the first four games with a shoulder injury, but his return against North Carolina gave the Wave an obvious boost as he caught touchdown passes of 56 and 42 yards. The next weekend, Barrios became the first Tulane receiver to gain 1,000 career yards as he caught three passes for 76 yards in a 33–8 win over Pitt. Running back Ricky Hebert rushed for 819 yards, most ever by a Tulane sophomore, highlighted by a 124-yard performance against LSU. Tulane had two 100-yard returns that fall on an interception by David Hebert against Rice and a kickoff by Coleman Dupre against North Carolina. Ellender's final record as Tulane's head coach is 27–29.
Larry Smith era (1976–1979)
After the firing of Bennie Ellender, Tulane hired Larry Smith as head coach in 1976. His first team went 2–9, then improved over the following years to 3–8 and 4–7. Smith's Green Wave teams experienced a break-out year in 1979: Tulane opened the season defeating #13 Stanford and later defeated #19 SMU. In the regular season finale, Tulane defeated rival LSU, 24–13, in the Louisiana Superdome; the crowd of 73,496 remains the highest attendance to see the Green Wave play at the Superdome. Tulane ended the regular season with a 9–2 record, ranked #15 and was invited to play in the 1979 Liberty Bowl. Its first bowl game in six years, Tulane lost to Penn State, 9–6, but Smith's ability to finish the season 9–3 Smith's tenure with Tulane ended with a 17–27 record.
Under his guidance, ten Tulane players earned All-America honors, including two-time All-Americans quarterback Roch Hontas and kicker Eddie Murray as well as offensive tackle Eric Laakso and tight end Rodney Holman. Six of his Tulane players entered the NFL.
Vince Gibson era (1980–1982)
From 1980 to 1982, Vince Gibson, who came from Louisville, took over as head coach at Tulane, posting an overall record of 17–17. Gibson defeated LSU in two out of his three seasons at Tulane and also coached the Green Wave to an appearance in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. While at Tulane, Gibson was known as "Vegas Vince" for his risk taking play calling.
Wally English era (1983–1984)
Wally English, previously an assistant with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, took over the Tulane head coaching position in 1983, beginning a controversial two-year reign. The day before the 1983 season opener with Mississippi State, Jon English, Wally's son, filed suit in district court in New Orleans against the NCAA and Tulane, alleging that he was unjustly being deprived of a final season of eligibility. Future NFL performers like Bubby Brister, Don Maggs, Ron Tilton and Burnell Dent dotted the roster. Brister left the team after being replaced by Jon English midway through the first two games of the season. The 1983 team lost a lot of close games and was beaten by two TDs only once all season. Dent set a new Tulane record for tackles in a season with 172 that fall to register the most impressive individual performance.
Coach English led the Green Wave to a 3–8 record in his final season as head coach, defeating Vanderbilt, Southern Miss and Memphis State. Ken Karcher, a transfer from Notre Dame, took over the starting quarterback spot. His favorite target was sophomore tight end Larry Route, who led the squad with 46 catches. Mike Jones led the team in rushing with 573 yards, including 129 in the season finale with LSU. Linebacker Burnell Dent led the team in tackles again, this time with 139. The rivalry game against LSU was called off with less than a minute remaining when a bench-clearing brawl broke out between the teams on an extra point attempt. English's two-year tenure ended the following week when Tulane announced it would fire English and seek a new head coach. English's final record at Tulane is 7–15.
Mack Brown era (1985–1987)
To replace English, Tulane hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mack Brown as head football coach. In 1987, after seasons with yearly records of 1–10 and 4–7, the Green Wave finished 6–6 under Coach Brown before losing to Washington 24–12 in the Independence Bowl. The Green Wave that season were led by dynamic quarterback Terrence Jones and wide receiver Marc Zeno. Brown left Tulane after three seasons for the head coaching position at North Carolina. His final record as head coach of the Green Wave is 11–23.
Greg Davis era (1988–1991)
Brown was succeeded at Tulane by his offensive coordinator, Greg Davis. Davis failed to garner a winning season at Tulane and was fired in 1991 following a 1–10 campaign. His yearly records were 5–6, 4–8, 4–7 and 1–10 for a total of 14–31.
Buddy Teevens era (1992–1996)
Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens was hired to turn the Green Wave program around, but he too failed to muster a winning season during his tenure at Tulane. Tulane recruited Barron Collier HS quarterback Matt Cammuso in 1994, who had also been scouted by West Virginia and North Carolina State. In 1995, Tulane left the ranks of the independents and joined a new all-sports league called Conference USA, formed by the merger of the Metro Conference, the non-football conference it belonged to at the time, and the Great Midwest Conference. Teevens was fired after the 1996 season. His final record as head coach of the Green Wave is 10–46.
Tommy Bowden era (1997–1998)
The 1997 football season at Tulane started fresh with a new head coach, Auburn offensive coordinator Tommy Bowden. Using players recruited during the Teevens era, Bowden's first season produced a 7–4 season, the Wave's first winning regular season since 1987; however, the Green Wave did not participate in a bowl game that year. The dramatic turnaround was only a preview of what was to come in Bowden's second year as coach. In 1998, Tulane went undefeated for the first time since 1931. Quarterback Shaun King led the Green Wave to a 12–0 record, a Conference USA championship, and a final No. 7 national ranking. He played most of the season with a cast on his left wrist, which he broke in the third game. King also set the all-time NCAA passing efficiency record for quarterbacks, a record which, at 183.3, was not surpassed until 2006.
Despite a perfect regular season, the Green Wave was not even considered for a BCS bowl game because it was felt they had not played a legitimate schedule. They only played one team from an automatic qualifying conference all season, and never played a ranked team. Nonetheless, this snub fueled questions about championships and revenue management in college football and caused Tulane's President Scott Cowen to demand reform of the system. Cowen's efforts eventually led to changes to the BCS, including allowing more post-season access for schools in non-automatic qualifying conferences. Tommy Bowden departed Tulane with an 18–4 record to become head coach at Clemson after two seasons. The Green Wave completed a perfect 12–0 season with a 41–27 victory over BYU in the Liberty Bowl.
Chris Scelfo era (1998–2006)
Bowden was replaced by Georgia offensive line coach and South Louisiana native Chris Scelfo, who was chosen over popular Tulane offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez, the architect of the devastating spread offense that averaged 45 points a game in 1998. Scelfo's tenure was highlighted by a 6–5 record in 2000 and a 2002 Hawaii Bowl victory over Hawaii, which completed an 8–5 overall season for the Green Wave. Unfortunately for Scelfo and Tulane fans, the 2002 season was the last winning season for the program until 2013. Mewelde Moore, a lightly recruited running back out of Baton Rouge, signed in 2000 and ultimately finished his four-year career as Tulane's all-time leading rusher with 6,505 career yards, surpassing the legendary Eddie Price. He set Tulane and C-USA records by running for 100 yards or more in 22 games.
Moore was selected in the 4th round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings. Two other Tulane products, Patrick Ramsey and J. P. Losman, were selected in the first round of the 2002 and 2004 NFL drafts by the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills, respectively. Scelfo and his staff guided Tulane football through a particularly difficult 2005 season, in which the program played its 11 games in 11 different stadiums because of its displacement and Tulane's temporary shuttering due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. After returning to a normal 2006 home schedule in the Superdome and going 4–8, Scelfo was fired by the university. Scelfo finished his career at Tulane with a 37–57 overall record.
Bob Toledo era (2007–2011)
Former UCLA Bruins head coach Bob Toledo was named head coach on December 11, 2006. Toledo compiled a 49–32 overall record while at UCLA from 1996 to 2002, which included a Pac-10 title in 1998 and a 20-game winning streak between the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Ironically, Toledo became head coach at a school whom he lost a prized recruit to: J. P. Losman signed with UCLA in 1999 but transferred following UCLA's Spring practice to play for Scelfo at Tulane. The Green Wave finished 4–8 in Toledo's inaugural season, highlighted by the individual performance of running back Matt Forte, who shattered several Green Wave records on his way to rushing for 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns. In 2007, Forté broke the 200-yard rushing barrier five times and the 300-yard barrier twice, which included a Tulane and Conference USA single-game-record 342 rushing yards against SMU.
After compiling a 15–46 record, Toledo resigned during the 2011 season after a 2–5 start. Co-offensive coordinator Mark Hutson became interim head coach for the remaining 6 games, losing each of them.
Curtis Johnson era (2012–2015)
On December 5, 2011, New Orleans Saints wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson was introduced as the 38th head coach of Tulane football and the first African American head coach in the program's history. Four days later, with $40 million already raised, it was announced that the university was embarking on a $70 million fundraising campaign known as "Home Field Advantage." The campaign aimed to raise $60 million for construction of a new 30,000-seat stadium on the Uptown campus - to be opened by 2014 - and $10 million for the football program itself, to be put toward locker room, weight room, and academic advising upgrades. The stadium, Benson Field at Yulman Stadium, is now open. The following year, the university announced their move from Conference USA, of which they had been a member since 1995, to The American on July 1, 2014.
The Green Wave notched its 500th program win on October 5, 2013, a 24–21 homecoming victory over North Texas. Johnson led the Green Wave to a new on-campus era by securing the program's first winning season and bowl game since 2002, closing out the 2013 home schedule with a 45–3 victory over UTEP in Tulane's last scheduled regular-season game with the Superdome as the home field. The Green Wave went on to face UL-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl, a game the Green Wave lost 24–21. On November 28, 2015, Johnson was fired as Tulane's head coach.
Willie Fritz era (2016–2023)
On December 11, 2015, Georgia Southern head coach Willie Fritz was hired to replace Curtis Johnson as head coach of the Green Wave. His first two seasons saw Tulane win nine combined games, which was actually a step up from the three wins in both of the two seasons prior to his arrival. On May 22, 2018, Tulane signed Fritz to a two-year contract extension through the 2023 season. The 2018 team went 6–6 in the regular season, winning five of the eight conference games to finish in a three-way tie for the AAC Western title, although they did not play in the AAC title game. They were invited to play in the 2018 Cure Bowl, the first bowl game for Tulane since 2013. They faced Louisiana and beat them 41–24 for the program's first bowl win since 2002.
The next two seasons saw them finish with .500 records that saw them invited to bowl games, which meant Tulane went to a bowl game in three straight seasons for the first time ever, which resulted in a bowl win and loss. On September 14, 2020, Tulane signed Fritz to a contract extension through the 2027 season. The 2022 season saw tremendous turnaround. The 2021 team won just two games, but the following season saw them match that total before the season was halfway over. The Wave lost just twice in regular season play, with one being against the UCF Knights at home. However, a victory over Cincinnati clinched a berth in the 2022 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, which they hosted. In the game, Tulane never trailed, keeping pace with UCF (who got as close as three points late) in an eventual 45–28 victory.
It is the fifth conference title for Fritz as a coach (having done so for four separate teams) and it ranked as the first conference title for Tulane since 1998. Now ranked 14th in the AP Poll, they were selected as an at-large team to play the USC Trojans (ranked 8th in the polls) in the 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic, their first major bowl game since the 1940 Sugar Bowl. Tulane trailed for most of the game, which included being down by fifteen points with under five minutes to go in the game. But Tulane rallied with a quick touchdown and a stroke of luck in a subsequent safety to give them the ball with three minutes to play. Tulane drove 66 yards and converted multiple fourth down before scoring the go-ahead touchdown with nine seconds remaining. Tulane won by a final score of 46-45 for their first major bowl victory since 1935.
The win was the 12th in the season, matching the 1998 team for most ever and setting a record for the best single-season improvement in NCAA football history. Following the 2023 season, Fritz left to become the new head coach at the University of Houston.
Jon Sumrall era (2024-present)
On December 8, 2023, Jon Sumrall was hired as the 42nd head coach of the Tulane Green Wave, replacing Fritz. The season started with a QB change as freshman Darian Mensah won the starting job over expected starter Ty Thompson. Tulane started the season with a resounding 52-0 win against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, followed by a controversial one-point home loss to the Kansas State Wildcats, and a road loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. Following their 1-2 start, Tulane rebounded to begin a seven game winning streak with a road win at Louisiana-Lafayette, followed by wins against teams including South Florida, UAB, Rice, North Texas, Charlotte, and a 52-6 Homecoming win against Temple.
During this win streak, Tulane jumped back into the AP Top 25 for the third straight season; with this only happening for the Green Wave once before, when they were ranked in four consecutive seasons from 1936-39.