Fans should appreciate Tulane progress, stability under Willie Fritz

Those who hide behind the curtain on the Tulane message boards already have their knives out. They are ready to pounce, and hand out their verbal cuts, if Tulane doesn’t defeat Navy Saturday at Yulman Stadium.

If the Wave wins, they are bowl eligible. Tulane could go to a bowl for only the 12th time in school history. It would be another solid accomplishment for head coach Willie Fritz, in his third season.

Meanwhile, the notion that somehow a loss to Navy would be a giant step back is frankly silly.

In other words, right up the alley of those who hide behind the curtain.

Tulane University is one of the toughest jobs in college football. The numbers say that without equivocation.

If Tulane loses Saturday, Willie Fritz will have won 14 games in his first three seasons. An aggregate 14-win total over three years doesn’t seem like a lot, but in an Olive and Blue context, it is.

From 2002 to 2004, Chris Scelfo won 18 games as Tulane head coach.

From 1987 to 1989, under Mack Brown and Greg Davis, Tulane won 15 games.

Vince Gibson was fired after the 1982 season. In three seasons, he won 17 games and defeated LSU twice.

The only outlier over the last 40 years is, of course, Tommy Bowden, who coached the Green Wave to 18 regular season wins in two seasons.

As Tulane struggled this season, I have heard the usual moaning and groaning from the usual malcontents. Claims like Fritz doesn’t recruit enough local players. Or they don’t like his offense. Or the quarterbacks aren’t very good.

Despite this, he and his coaching staff have rallied this group from a 2-5 start to have a chance to accomplish a goal that was clearly number one from the beginning of the season.

There’s a lot to like about Willie Fritz, other than the fact that he’s won everywhere he’s been a head coach. He’s a solid as the day is long. He works hard. He isn’t a BS artist. He represents your school with class.

Plus, he and his staff give Tulane something else – continuity. The biggest problem at Tulane over the years hasn’t been the Superdome. It was the fact that while Tulane played 39 seasons there, the Green Wave employed 11 different permanent head coaches.

Change was constant. The only one who benefited were those fortunate enough to have Tulane on their schedule.

So, I think Tulane will win Saturday. Yet, if it doesn’t happen, get ready for the green tsunami of whiners and complainers. They will be as out in force, like Louisiana cockroaches.

Their message will be simple. Let’s blow it up and start all over again.

How silly.