page_title: History of Tulane Green Wave football
section_title: Early history (1893–1970)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Tulane Green Wave football / Overview / Early history (1893–1970)
caption_attribution_description: English: Don Zimmerman Topps football card A search was done at copyright.gov under the name of the company who produced the cards, Topps. While I found more recent original copyright applications for sports cards, I found no renewals for any cards done by Topps. Based on this, there's no evidence that Topps continues to claim on the material. Image of Don Zimmerman Topps football card.
context_page_description: The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football.
context_section_description: 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. 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. By 1919, Shaughnessy had transformed Tulane into a competitor among Southern collegiate teams. That season, he guided them to a then-school record of seven consecutive wins. In 1920, Germany Schulz was hired to take over duties as athletic director, 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 t
caption: Don Zimmerman
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