The Tulane Green Wave college football team represents Tulane University in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Green Wave compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 42 head coaches since it began play during the 1893 season. Since December 2023, Jon Sumrall has served as head coach at Tulane.[1]
Twelve coaches have led Tulane in postseason bowl games: R. R. Brown, Bernie Bierman, Ted Cox, Red Dawson, Jim Pittman, Bennie Ellender, Larry Smith, Vince Gibson, Mack Brown, Chris Scelfo, Curtis Johnson, and Willie Fritz. Five of those coaches also won conference championships: Cox, Dawson, and Henry Frnka each captured one as a member of the Southeastern Conference; Tommy Bowden captured one as a member of Conference USA; and Fritz one as a member of the AAC.
Clark Shaughnessy is the leader in seasons coached, with 11 years as head coach and games won with 59. Willie Fritz is the leader in games coached, at 101 games overall. H. T. Summersgill has the highest winning percentage at 0.909. Fred Sweet and Mark Hutson have the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.000. Of the 42 different head coaches who have led the Green Wave, Shaughnessy, Bierman, Claude Simons Jr., and Brown have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Key
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name | Term | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | CCs | NCs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T. L. Bayne | 1893 1895 |
8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Fred Sweet | 1894 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| 3 | Harry Baum | 1896 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | John Lombard | 1898 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Harris T. Collier | 1899 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | H. T. Summersgill | 1900–1901 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0.909 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Virginius Dabney | 1902 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0.286 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0.167 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Charles Eshleman | 1903 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.250 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Thomas A. Barry | 1904 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.714 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | John F. Tobin | 1905 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | John Russ | 1906 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.100 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Joe Curtis | 1907–1908 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0.769 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.750 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | R. R. Brown | 1909 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0.556 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.750 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Appleton A. Mason | 1910–1912 | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0.438 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0.286 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | A. C. Hoffman | 1913 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.375 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Edwin Sweetland | 1914 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Clark Shaughnessy† | 1915–1920 1922–1926 |
94 | 59 | 28 | 7 | 0.665 | 26 | 19 | 3 | 0.573 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Myron Fuller | 1921 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0.400 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Bernie Bierman† | 1927–1931 | 49 | 36 | 10 | 3 | 0.765 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0.735 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Ted Cox | 1932–1935 | 40 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 0.725 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 0.724 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Red Dawson | 1936–1941 | 59 | 36 | 19 | 4 | 0.644 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0.547 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Claude Simons Jr.† | 1942–1945 | 31 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 0.435 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0.300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Henry Frnka | 1946–1951 | 58 | 31 | 23 | 4 | 0.569 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0.542 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Raymond Wolf | 1952–1953 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0.325 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0.214 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Andy Pilney | 1954–1961 | 80 | 25 | 49 | 6 | 0.350 | 11 | 36 | 4 | 0.255 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Tommy O'Boyle | 1962–1965 | 40 | 6 | 33 | 1 | 0.163 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 0.096 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Jim Pittman | 1966–1970 | 52 | 21 | 30 | 1 | 0.413 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 28 | Bennie Ellender | 1971–1975 | 56 | 27 | 29 | 0 | 0.482 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | 0 |
| 29 | Larry Smith | 1976–1979 | 45 | 18 | 27 | 0 | 0.400 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | 0 |
| 30 | Vince Gibson | 1980–1982 | 34 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | 0 |
| 31 | Wally English | 1983–1984 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 0.227 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 32 | Mack Brown† | 1985–1987 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 0 | 0.324 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | — | 0 |
| 33 | Greg Davis | 1988–1991 | 45 | 14 | 31 | 0 | 0.311 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 34 | Buddy Teevens | 1992–1996 | 56 | 11 | 45 | 0 | 0.196 | 1 | 4 | — | 0.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Tommy Bowden | 1997–1998 | 22 | 18 | 4 | — | 0.818 | 11 | 1 | — | 0.917 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | Chris Scelfo | 1998–2006 | 94 | 37 | 57 | — | 0.394 | 18 | 42 | — | 0.300 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Bob Toledo | 2007–2011 | 61 | 15 | 46 | — | 0.246 | 8 | 32 | — | 0.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Mark Hutson | 2011 | 6 | 0 | 6 | — | .000 | 0 | 5 | — | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Curtis Johnson | 2012–2015 | 49 | 15 | 34 | — | 0.306 | 10 | 22 | — | 0.313 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Willie Fritz | 2016–2023 | 101 | 54 | 47 | — | 0.535 | 31 | 33 | — | 0.484 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 41 | Slade Nagle | 2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Jon Sumrall | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | — | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[2]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 regular season.
References
- ^ "Willie Fritz to be new coach at Tulane". ESPN.com. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.