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.
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] |
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 |
The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football. The Green Wave compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The football team is coached by Jon Sumrall, and plays its home games in Yulman Stadium on its campus in Uptown New Orleans.
Willie Fritz is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Houston. Fritz served as the head football coach at University of Central Missouri from 1997 to 2009, Sam Houston State University from 2010 to 2013, Georgia Southern University from 2014 to 2015, and Tulane University from 2016 to 2023. From 1993 to 1996, he was the head football coach at Blinn College, a junior college in Brenham, Texas, where he led his teams to consecutive NJCAA National Football Championships, in 1995 and 1996.
The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football.
The 2017 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Green Wave played their home games at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Willie Fritz. They finished the season 5–7, 3–5 in AAC play to finish in fifth place in the West Division.