Tulane Hires Georgia's Scelfo

Chris Scelfo, assistant head coach at Georgia since 1996, was hired as head coach at Tulane Monday.

Scelfo replaces Tommy Bowden, who led the Green Wave to an 11-0 record and a Liberty Bowl berth after just two seasons at the helm and got the job at Clemson last week.

At a news conference, Scelfo sought to reassure Tulane fans his tenure would be longer than Bowden's two years with the Green Wave.

"I am where I want to be for the rest of my life," Scelfo said.

It will be the first head coaching job for Scelfo, who is returning to his Louisiana roots.

An Abbeville, La., native, he was a center for Northeast Louisiana from 1981-84. His college coaching career began at Northeast, followed by stints at Oklahoma, where he was a graduate assistant and later a receivers coach, Marshall, then Georgia.

It was not immediately clear whether Scelfo would be on the sideline for Tulane at the Liberty Bowl. Also unclear was the future of interim head coach Rich Rodriguez, the offensive coordinator under Bowden. Rodriguez had begun making plans for Tulane's Dec. 31 game in the Liberty Bowl against BYU. He had been considered a prime candidate to replace Bowden.

Rodriguez said Sandy Barbour, Tulane's athletic director, informed him this morning that he did not get the job.

"This is a shock," he said. "I was so sure, I brought in my green coat and tie this morning. This is so discouraging. I'm disappointed. I thought I'd done all I could to prove myself. I'm worried about the kids."

Rodriguez could now join Bowden at Clemson but also is considered a finalist for the head coaching job at Middle Tennessee State. He said he was unsure whether he would coach Tulane in the Liberty Bowl.

Scelfo is considered a top-notch recruiter and helped design Georgia's offense. He was the offensive coordinator with Georgia coach Jim Donnan at Marshall, then went with Donnan to Georgia.

Bowden became head coach at Tulane two seasons ago after 19 years as an assistant coach at nine schools. He became a hot coching property by turning the perpetually poor Tulane program -- unranked since Dec. 3, 1979 -- into a winner his first, and running up an undefeated regular season in his second.

Rodriguez said he would call Middle Tennessee State, which is expected to make its decision on a head coach Tuesday. He also planned to talk with Southwestern Louisiana, which is in the market for a head coach.

Rodriguez said he expects to be a Division 1-A coach some day. "I'll get a chance to show them they were wrong," he said.

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