The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football.

Overview 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 began playing intercollegiate football in 1893, beating LSU in the state's first intercollegiate contest.

The 1895 team joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the first southern athletics conference. The 1896 game against SIAA champion LSU was forfeited during the game due to Tulane having fielded an ineligible player. At the time that the game was declared forfeit, Tulane was leading with a score of 2–0. LSU was once moving the ball toward the goal line when a Tulane player named Depleche was injured. The injured player was replaced by George H. Brooke. LSU ran another play and gained 5 yards before realizing the identity of this substitute Tulane player. After a lengthy debate, the referee ruled that Brooke could not play, and that Tulane forfeited the game by refusing to play without him. Dr. William Dudley, of the SIAA, later ruled that the game referee was right to declare the game forfeited.Hardesty, Dan. "LSU:The Louisiana Tigers". The Strode Publishers. Huntsville, Alabama. 1975. pg 24-25."Baton Rouge Wins Without Winning". The Daily Picayune. October 25, 1896. pg. 8. 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. The team failed to win a game in 1905 or 1906. The 1908 team lost only to Baylor. Rival LSU went undefeated, and Tulane accused LSU of using professional players. The 1909 team played in the Bacardi Bowl, and the 1910 team went winless. In a 1912 game against Southwestern Louisiana, Tulane set school records of 15 rushing touchdowns and 95 points that still stand today.

In 1915 Tulane hired coach Clark Shaughnessy, who would lead the team to then unparalleled success. Though he was famous for later using the T formation, at Tulane he employed the single wing. Shaughnessy also introduced to Tulane the Minnesota shift, an innovation created by his former coach Henry L. Williams., The Palm Beach Post, December 17, 1939. By 1919, Shaughnessy had transformed Tulane into a competitor among Southern collegiate teams.Leonard Victor Huber, New Orleans: A Pictorial History, p. 258, Pelican Publishing, 1991, . That season, he guided them to a then-school record of seven consecutive wins.Tulane Football History , Tulane University, retrieved August 15, 2010. In 1920, Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director,"GERMAN" SCHULZ NAMED DIRECTOR TULANE SPORTS, The Atlanta Constitution, July 25, 1920. 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. The team's backfield included Lester Lautenschlaeger, Brother Brown, and Peggy Flournoy. Coach Shaughnessy said Brown was the best player he ever coached. The administration declined a Rose Bowl invitation at the end of that season, however, in order to keep their student-athletes in class. 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 marked the first time the Green Wave suffered back-to-back losing seasons since 1905-06 and it did not happen again until 1945–46. The Green Wave defeated Ole Miss in the season opener and LSU in the season finale for its only two wins that fall. Bierman thought of ditching his single-wingback formation after the 32–0 loss to Vanderbilt, and was convinced to keep it by Vandy coach Dan McGugin. 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. Tulane's third and fourth perfect regular seasons came in 1929 and 1931, with a single loss to Northwestern in Chicago marring the 1930 campaign. The 1931 team did go to the Rose Bowl, losing 21–12 to Southern California, and Jerry Dalrymple became the only unanimous All-American selection that year.

In 1932 Tulane chartered the Southeastern Conference (SEC) along with 12 other colleges and universities. Ted Cox, an assistant to Bernie Bierman since 1927, took over the head coaching reins and the winning tradition continued. All-American Don Zimmerman was a leader on both sides of the ball as he ended his Tulane career as Tulane's all-time leader in total offense and passes intercepted, setting records that lasted until the 1970s. The Green Wave beat some big-time football teams in spite of being hard hit by graduation, but finishing 6–2–1 was considered a definite "rebuilding" effort for the Tulane program of that day. The Green Wave lost to LSU for the first time since 1926. The 1934 team tied for the SEC championship. In 1935 Tulane began hosting the Sugar Bowl in Tulane Stadium, an annual contest that eventually lent its name to the stadium itself. Coach Red Dawson's first Tulane team finished 6–3–1 and started the tradition of strong defense that was the hallmark of his tenure. Six of 1936's opponents were held to less than 10 points. That season, Tulane and Auburn played the first of three consecutive scoreless ties. A four-game winning streak at mid-year was the season highlight, but the team took another thumping (33–0) from LSU at the end. Dawson went national in his recruiting and began to bring in players that would lead Tulane football back to national prominence. In 1939 the team completed its fifth unbeaten season, losing a close 14–13 battle to Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. Dawson left Tulane after the 1941 season to accept the head football coach position at Pittsburgh.

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.

In 1951, believing that athletics had begun to overshadow academics, University President Rufus Harris voluntarily lowered Tulane's football scholarships to 75 from 100 and reduced coaches' salaries, among other changes. After that season, Frnka resigned as head football coach. His final record at Tulane is 31–23–4. Former North Carolina and Florida head coach Raymond Wolf replaced Henry Frnka as head coach 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. Coach Wolf's brief tenure came to an end after a 1–8–1 record. Led by Max McGee's 132 yards, Tulane rushed for 432 yards and demolished The Citadel 54–6 in the season opener. The team did not win another game. The austerity program limiting football scholarships that was announced during the last year of the Henry Frnka regime was beginning to be felt on the scoreboard. McGee ended the season as the squad's leading rusher for the third year in a row. Wolf's final record with the Green Wave is 6–13–1. Jim Pittman took over the coaching reins for 1966, a historic and memorable season for Tulane football. Tulane left the SEC in 1966 to become an independent. 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.