Chris Scelfo
Chris Scelfo went 37–57 as a head coach, 1998–2006, at Tulane. Share
- Record
- 37–57 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 1998 12–0, No. 7
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Tulane interim, bowl game | 1–0 | 1st | Liberty Bowl W | 7 | |
| 1999 | Tulane | 3–8 | T–6th | |||
| 2000 | Tulane | 6–5 | T–5th | |||
| 2001 | Tulane | 3–9 | ||||
| 2002 | Tulane | 8–5 | 9th | Hawai’i Bowl W | ||
| 2003 | Tulane | 5–7 | 8th | |||
| 2004 | Tulane | 5–6 | 6th | |||
| 2005 | Tulane | 2–9 | 6th | |||
| 2006 | Tulane | 4–8 | 6th |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Seth Marler2001 Lou Groza Award
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 10 | 0–10 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 13 | 1–12 | 8% |
| Conference games | 60 | 18–42 | 30% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 2–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 28 | 10–18 | 36% |
| At home | 39 | 24–15 | 62% |
| On the road | 46 | 10–36 | 22% |
| At neutral sites | 9 | 3–6 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 41 | 27–14 | 66% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 53 | 10–43 | 19% |
His own 94 games on file, 1998–2006, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Bower 1999–2006 | 1–7 | Southern Miss | 8 | |
| Watson Brown 1999–2004 | 3–2 | UAB | 5 | |
| Gary Patterson 2001–2004 | 2–2 | TCU | 4 | |
| Paul Johnson 2002–2005 | 2–2 | Navy | 4 | |
| Todd Berry 2000–2003 | 1–3 | Army | 4 | |
| Steve Logan 1999–2002 | 0–4 | East Carolina | 4 | |
| Art Briles 2003–2006 | 0–4 | Houston | 4 | |
| Rick Minter 2000–2002 | 2–1 | Cincinnati | 3 | |
| Sylvester Croom 2004–2006 | 1–2 | Mississippi State | 3 | |
| Tommy West 2002–2004 | 0–3 | Memphis | 3 |
Chris Scelfo’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Missseries | 8 | 1–7 |
| Armyseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Navyseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Houstonseries | 7 | 2–5 |
| East Carolinaseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| UABseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Memphisseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| SMUseries | 4 | 3–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Northeast Louisiana | Graduate assistant | |
| 1988–89 | Oklahoma | Graduate assistant | |
| 1990–92 | Marshall | Offensive line coach | |
| 1993–95 | Marshall | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 1996–98 | Georgia | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| 1998–2006 | Tulane | Head coach | |
| 2008–14 | Atlanta Falcons NFL | Tight ends coach | |
| 2017 | Houston | Offensive line coach | |
| 2018 | Charlotte | Offensive line coach | |
| 2019 | Arizona Hotshots AAF | Offensive line coach | |
| 2020 | DC Defenders XFL | Offensive line coach | |
| 2025–present | Tulsa | Specialist assistant head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Pat CollinsUL Monroe
- Barry SwitzerOklahoma
- Gary GibbsOklahoma
- Jim DonnanMarshall, Georgia
- Major ApplewhiteHouston
- Brad LambertCharlotte
- Rick NeuheiselArizona Hotshots
- Pep HamiltonDC Defenders
- Tre LambTulsa
Assistants who became head coaches
- Frank ScelfoSE Louisiana
- Rich RodriguezWest Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, Salem, Glenville State
- Mickey JosephNebraska, Langston, Grambling
- Trooper TaylorDuke
- Brad SmileySouthern Arkansas
Worked under (9)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Collins | UL Monroe | 1986–87 | Graduate assistant | |
| Barry Switzer | Oklahoma | 1988 | Graduate assistant | |
| Gary Gibbs | Oklahoma | 1989 | Graduate assistant | |
| Jim Donnan | Marshall | 1990–95 | 1990–92: offensive line coach; 1993–95: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Jim Donnan | Georgia | 1996–98 | Assistant head coach and offensive line coach | |
| Major Applewhite | Houston | 2017 | Offensive line coach | |
| Brad Lambert | Charlotte | 2018 | Offensive line coach | |
| Rick Neuheisel | Arizona Hotshots pro | 2019 | Offensive line coach | |
| Pep Hamilton | DC Defenders pro | 2020 | Offensive line coach | |
| Tre Lamb | Tulsa | 2025–26 | Specialist assistant head coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Scelfo | Tulane, 1998: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; 1999–2006: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | SE Louisiana | |
| Rich Rodriguez | Tulane, 1998: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, Salem, Glenville State | |
| Mickey Joseph | Tulane, 1999: graduate assistant | Nebraska, Langston, Grambling | |
| Trooper Taylor | Tulane, 1999–2003: wide receivers coach | Duke | |
| Brad Smiley | Tulane, 2000–06: recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach | Southern Arkansas |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dick Hopkins | Tulane, 1998: defensive ends coach | |
| Rick Smith | Tulane, 1998: defensive coordinator | |
| Joe Dickinson | Tulane, 1999–2000: running backs coach | |
| Pete McGinnis | Tulane, 1999–2001: defensive coordinator | |
| Eric Schumann | Tulane, 2002–06: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Bobby April III | Tulane, 2005–06: graduate assistant |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Scelfo’s teams went for it on 21% of fourth downs and on 34% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 59% of plays and took 24.3 seconds a play, 2004–2006.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2 g | 3 of 18 17% | 27% | 53% | 22.9 | −0.30 | |
| 2005 10 g | 23 of 86 27% | 40% | 60% | 23.9 | −0.14 | |
| 2006 12 g | 14 of 91 15% | 28% | 59% | 24.9 | −0.08 | |
| All 24 g | 40 of 195 21% | 34% | 59% | 24.3 | −0.12 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.