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Spread Offense QB Shaun King Green Wave
After graduating from Gibbs High School in 1995, King played college football at Tulane University from 1995 to 1998, leading Tulane to an undefeated season and a win over Brigham Young University in the Liberty Bowl, in the process setting the single-season NCAA Division I-A record for passing efficiency in 1998 of 183.3. In the same year, he became the first player in NCAA history to both pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game against Army on November 14. His quarterback coach was Rich Rodriguez and his head coach was Tommy Bowden. He finished 10th in voting for the 1998 Heisman Trophy. King is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. King co-captained the 1998 12-0 Green Wave along with right tackle Dennis O’Sullivan. The style of offense that King ran at Tulane under Bowden was the Spread offense which is now a very popular style in NCAA football.
New head coach Perry Clark rebuilt the program to unprecedented success, including a 1991 – 1992 season that started 13–0 and ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 1992 – 1993 and 1994 – 1995 teams matched that team’s success, but Tulane hasn’t approached such heights since. Clark resigned in 2000 to coach the Miami Hurricanes.
College Sports Established
1905
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
College Name
Tulane University
Collegiate History
1973 – Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 – 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1907 – 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States
Conference History
2014 – Present / American Athletic Conference
1995 – 2014 / Conference USA
1985 – 1995 – Independent
1975 – 1985 / Metro Conference
1966 – 1975 – Independent
1932 – 1966 / Southwest Conference
Nickname
Green Wave – From 1893 to 1919, the athletic teams of Tulane were known as the Olive and Blue for the official school colors. In 1919, the Tulane Weekly, one of Tulane’s many student newspapers at the time, began referring to the football team as the Greenbacks.
On Oct. 20, 1920, Earl Sparling, editor of the Tulane Hullabaloo, wrote a football song that was printed in the newspaper. The song was titled “The Rolling Green Wave.” Although the name was not immediately adopted, it began to receive acceptance. On Nov. 19, 1920, a report of the Tulane-Mississippi A&M game in the Hullabaloo referred to the team as the Green Wave. By the end of the season, the Hullabaloo was using the term Green Wave to refer to all Tulane athletic teams, as were many daily papers.
Though the “official” nickname was Green Wave the term Greenbacks and Greenies, for the color of their jerseys, stayed in use throughout that time period.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men’s Basketball 0
Women’s Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0