-
-
- CFB Front Page
-
Scores
- Teams
-
Conferences
- Players
- Standings
- Rankings
- Schedules
- Stats
- Bowl Schedule
-
-
-
- College Basketball
- Scores
- Teams
-
Conferences
- Players
- Stats
- Standings
- Rankings
- Schedules
- Women's Hoops
-
-
-
-
- Soccer Front Page
-
Leagues
-
-
- Tennis Front Page
-
ATP
-
WTA
-
-
The pessimist in Bob Toledo — if there is one — might look at his task at Tulane and be overwhelmed. After all, this is a program that has had only two winning seasons since Tommy Bowden bolted after the 11–0 regular season in 1998 and is still fighting the effects of Hurricane Katrina. But talk to Toledo for a short time and you don’t hear the pessimism. “This program has been down a little bit,” says the 61-year-old Toledo. “I think we can get better. We’ve got a chance to be competitive in Conference USA and that’s the objective.” Toledo knows about winning football games. He was 49–32 as the head coach at UCLA from 1996-02. His 1997 and 1998 UCLA teams finished 20–4 overall, 15–1 in Pac-10 play and participated in the Cotton and Rose Bowls. He was fired from UCLA following the 2002 season and didn’t return to coaching until last season, when he was the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator under Rocky Long at New Mexico. He readily accepted the challenge to replace Chris Scelfo at Tulane. “I received more than 200 calls about this job and, at the end of the day, Bob Toledo was clearly the best man to lead our program,” says Tulane athletics director Rick Dickson. “I believe Bob will create a winning atmosphere that will bring Tulane fans back to the Superdome.” OFFENSEToledo will build his first Tulane offense around 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior running back Matt Forte. The Slidell, La., product was a member of the All-Freshman team for C-USA in 2004 and led the team in rushing the past two seasons. He did miss the final three games of last season with a knee injury and was kept out of contact work in spring practice. But Toledo thinks Forte is ready to carry the offense. Obviously, any good running back needs help from his offensive line. And a solid passing game helps relieve some of the pressure. That could be a problem for Tulane — on both fronts. The offensive line is a question mark, and three unproven quarterbacks are fighting for the job vacated by dynamic Lester Ricard. Toledo will enter fall prepared to let junior Scott Elliott, sophomore Anthony Scelfo and redshirt freshman Kevin Moore battle it out at quarterback. Elliott is the most experienced of the three. Scelfo, an outfielder on the Tulane baseball team, is probably the most athletic player in the group. And the 6-5, 229-pound Moore has the size and arm strength that coaches love. DEFENSEIf games are truly won up front, then Tulane may be in good shape on defense. Senior tackles Frank Morton and Avery Williams and senior defensive end Antonio Harris anchor the defensive front. All three have played a lot of football at Tulane, and all three have made a lot of plays. The Green Wave are also pretty good at the back of the defense. Senior safeties Joe Goosby and David Skehan are superb. Goosby played in 33 games for the Green Wave over the past three seasons. Skehan, a former walk-on, had a team-high 80 tackles from his strong safety position last fall. In between those two groups are some question marks. Tulane has the potential to be good at linebacker with returnees James Dillard and Evan Lee leading the way. But the Green Wave are thin at that position. Cornerback is unsettled even though the Green Wave have a deep pool to choose from with junior Charles Harris, a 6-3, 185-pound former wide receiver, and seniors O’Lindsey Brown and Carlis Jackson at the top of that list. SPECIALISTSTulane has a capable kick returner in senior Fred Smith and an excellent long snapper in Craig Gelhardt. The Green Wave aren’t as settled on the guys doing the kicking. Ross Thevenot returns as the placekicker, but he wasn’t consistent as a freshman. Darren DeRochemont, a freshman, will get a chance to win the punting job. FINAL ANALYSISDon’t expect miracles. Toledo has the ability to turn things around at Tulane. But it won’t happen overnight. Don’t forget that this is a program — and a city — still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Tulane is good in spots, and the Green Wave are not too far below the typical talent level in Conference USA. It will be interesting to see what happens at quarterback and cornerback. Perhaps the best that the Tulane faithful can hope for right now is an improvement over last year’s four-win season. Small steps may be the best way to go. Perhaps the most important game of the season comes in the second week when Tulane welcomes defending conference champion Houston to the Superdome. An unlikely win there would get Tulane started in the right direction.
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
