First season 1893 Year built 2014 Field surface UBU Speed Series S5-M Division Division I (NCAA) | Athletic director Troy Dannen Seating capacity 30,000 Location New Orleans, Louisiana Mascot Riptide | |
![]() | ||
Profiles |
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 American). The football team is coached by Willie Fritz, and plays its home games in Yulman Stadium on its campus in Uptown New Orleans.
Contents
- Home stadium
- Tulane University Marching Band
- Mascot
- LSU Tigers
- Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Conference championships
- All time record vs AAC teams
- All Americans
- Head coaches
- Bowl appearances
- Non conference
- Conference
- References

Home stadium

The Green Wave have played their home games in Yulman Stadium on its Uptown campus since 2014. Prior to that season, Tulane played home games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for nearly 40 seasons, and in its previous on-campus venue, Tulane Stadium, before that. Because Tulane's campus is landlocked within Uptown New Orleans, Yulman is tightly fit within its athletic footprint and directly abutting the surrounding neighborhood. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 spectators and was constructed with the ability to expand.
Tulane University Marching Band

The Tulane University Marching Band (TUMB) was founded in 1920 as a military band. It dissolved shortly after the team's move to the Superdome in the 1970s and did not formally return until 2006. The TUMB performs at home games each fall and in Mardi Gras parades each spring.
Mascot

Riptide the Pelican debuted in 1998 with the re-branding of Tulane athletics. Prior to that, the school used an angry wave nicknamed "Gumby" by fans, and before that a John Chase creation named "Greenie."
LSU Tigers

Tulane's biggest and oldest rival was LSU. It began in 1893 with a 34–0 Green Wave victory over the Tigers. The teams stopped meeting every year in the Battle for the Flag in 2009. The rivalry became less competitive after 1948, until Tulane broke a 25-game losing streak in 1973 with a 14–0 victory in front of a Tulane Stadium record crowd of 86,598 in the final installment of the long-time rivalry played on Tulane's campus. Between 1979 and 1982, Tulane won three out of four games against the Tigers; the 1982 win was the last win to date. The two schools stopped playing annually after the 1994 game; however, they have met six times (1996, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009) since. LSU lead the series 69–22–7 and won 45 of the final 50 games. As a condition of the broken series agreement made in 2006, a potential future game will be played in a future season in New Orleans.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Known as the Battle for the Bell, Tulane's rivalry with Southern Miss was played yearly from 1979 until 2006 and alternates sites between New Orleans and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As a result of Conference USA splitting into East and West divisions in 2005, the game was played two out of every four years. The rivalry is paused indefinitely as a result of Tulane's move to The American Athletic Conference in 2014.
Conference championships

Tulane has won nine conference football championships in four different conferences. Its three Southeastern Conference titles are more than seven current members of the SEC: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt.
† Denotes conference co-championships.
All-time record vs. AAC teams
Records current as of November 27, 2015
All-Americans

Tulane has had 19 players named to first-team All-America teams. Of those 19, five were consensus selections, with one being a unanimous selection.
Head coaches

The team has had 39 head coaches and 1 interim head coach since Tulane began playing football in 1893. 12 coaches have led the program to postseason bowl games: R. R. Brown, Bernie Bierman, Ted Cox, Red Dawson, Jim Pittman, Bennie Ellender, Larry Smith, Vince Gibson, Mack Brown, Tommy Bowden, Chris Scelfo, and Curtis Johnson. While Tommy Bowden led the 1998 team to a perfect 11–0 regular season and the 1998 Liberty Bowl, Chris Scelfo coached the team during that game. Six coaches led the team to conference championships: Clark Shaughnessy (1 SIAA and 1 SoCon), Bernie Bierman (3 SoCon), Ted Cox (1 SEC), Red Dawson (1 SEC), Henry E. Frnka (1 SEC), and Tommy Bowden (1 C-USA).

Clark Shaughnessy and Chris Scelfo are tied as the all-time leaders in games coached at Tulane with 94 each. Clark Shaughnessy is the all-time leader in years coached (11) and total wins (59).
Bowl appearances
Tulane has been to 12 bowls in its history, winning 4. Its victories include the inaugural Sugar Bowl (held in the team's home stadium and the game's namesake, Tulane Stadium), the 1970 Liberty Bowl, the 1998 Liberty Bowl (after a perfect 11–0 season), and the 2002 Hawaiʻi Bowl.
Non-conference
Announced schedules as of March 17, 2017
Conference
Beginning in 2015 with the addition of Navy as a football-only member, the American Athletic Conference began its two-division alignment, with Tulane in the West Division with Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, and Tulsa. Division members play each other each year, as well as 3 members each year from the opposite division, on a rotating basis.