Tulane Green Wave Opener a Homecoming for Southeastern Louisiana Coach
The Tulane Green Wave will kick off their 2024 season on Thursday evening against Southeastern Louisiana. Games like these won’t normally garner a ton of national attention, but for some of the people involved, it means a lot.
One person who is going to relish the opportunity to return to Yulman Stadium, even though he isn’t part of the Tulane family any longer, is Frank Scelfo.
The SELA head coach has a long history with the Green Wave. From 1996-2006, he was an assistant on the team, working under Buddy Teevens, Tommy Bowden and his brother, Chris Scelfo.
He was on the staff for some of the golden years of the Green Wave program. In the 1998 season, Tulane went undefeated, finishing the season ranked No. 7. In 2002, they were victorious in the Hawaii Bowl.
Family members of Scelfo also played for the team. His son Anthony was a Green Wave member and his father-in-law was captain of the team 73 years ago.
While his tenure with the school didn’t end as anyone had hoped, with Hurricane Katrina in 2006 playing a big role, it was a time that Scelfo looked back on fondly.
He made an appearance on 106.1 The Ticket on Wednesday, speaking about just how much he cherished his time at Tulane.
“Talk about a roller coaster ride while I was there, I was able to raise my family there,” Scelfo said, as shared by Ken Trahan of Crescent City Sports. “In this profession, spending 11 seasons somewhere just doesn’t happen. I should get a letter jacket from Tulane. Katrina raised its ugly head. The memories I’ve got there, I’ve got some great, lifelong friends. One of the most memorable things is going to a Greenbackers meeting. You go to one of those in Metairie, you never forget that. People were so kind to me. I’ve pulled for Tulane my entire life. I want them to win every game except for tomorrow night.”
You can be sure that Scelfo will have his Lions ready to go for the season opener. Southeastern Louisana has found a lot of success with him as the head coach, making the FCS playoffs three times.
They have been doing their homework, studying what new Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall was doing at Troy to prepare for what they may see on Thursday night.
“We looked at what Troy did,” Scelfo said. “You really admire Jon’s path to where he’s at right now. He’s made a huge impact on all the universities he’s been at. That’s why Tulane was so anxious to get him back. He brought both coordinators with him from Troy so you have to go back and look at what Troy did on offense and defense and say there will be some similarities that carry over. We’ve spent our entire summer working on Troy. If they deviate from that, we’re in trouble.”
It will be interesting to see how things unfold. Anything can happen in a season opener, but the Green Wave are expected to have an edge in most facets of the game.
KENNETH TEAPE
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.