The Year of the Green Turns 50
BY TOM SYMONDS - TULANEGREENWAVE.COM
It’s been more than 50 years, but Steve Barrios still remembers the game like it was yesterday.
The year was 1969, the opponent was the University of Florida and the result was a heartbreaking 18-17 loss, which came as a result of a two-point conversion by the Gators in the closing moments of the game.
“We slugged it out with those guys and I remember how disappointing and how gut-wrenching that loss was to us,” Barrios said. “We were crying in the locker room because we had played so hard and we lost on a two-point conversion.”
Tulane’s loss to the Gators in 1969, however, would turn into a win for the ages, as it laid the foundation for one of the most memorable seasons in Tulane University football history the following season in 1970.
“I committed myself right then and there because I felt that this team was going to be something,” Barrios said.
The Green Wave did have something in 1969 and everyone in Tulane’s locker room knew it.
Following the Green Wave’s razor-thin loss to No. 12 Florida, Tulane’s group of super sophomores who were seeing their first bit of varsity competition – freshmen were ineligible to play in the 1969 season – began to grow up in a hurry, as the team would go on to post wins over Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Virginia to close out the 1969 season.
The youth and inexperience that lived on the Green Wave’s 1969 roster had now morphed into a group that believed in themselves. By the end of the year, Tulane had something it had not had in sometime. Optimism.
Prior to the 1970 season, Tulane football had fallen on tough times throughout the 1960s, as the program suffered losing seasons in nine of the previous 10 years.
But 1970 felt different. Real different.
Entering his fifth season that year, head coach Jim Pittman had total command of the team and his squad was well on its way to responding to its no-nonsense coach.
“Jim Pittman was an old school head coach and was as tough as tough could get,” former Tulane defensive back Joe Bullard said. “He had a staff that was a strong group of disciplinarians and they were tough on us, but we needed that as a team.”
Pittman arrived at Tulane from the University of Texas, where he helped guide the Longhorns to the 1963 national championship. He also knew what it took to go to war with a group of men. Literally.
During World War II, Pittman was stationed on the USS New Jersey for two years and participated in five major operations, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Pittman believed in discipline and so too did his staff of coaches.
“They were old style SEC-type coaches and they would get after you pretty good if you made a mistake, especially in practice,” Barrios said. “We had a lot of respect for that coaching staff. If the team meeting was at 2 p.m., everyone would be in their seats 20 minutes before the meeting began.”
But most notably, the 20 sophomores who started on the 1969 team were a year older, and the recruiting efforts Pittman had put in place had begun to take shape to set the stage for a memorable campaign in 1970.
In the previous four seasons at Tulane, Pittman had recruited Barrios, Bullard, Paul Ellis, David Hebert and Bob Waldron, all of whom got their first pieces of varsity action in 1969 and would make major impacts throughout their respective careers at Tulane.
In 1969, Bullard established himself as Tulane’s all-time best punt returner that fall, setting records for yards and average per return that have not been approached to this day. His 92-yard return against Vanderbilt is still the longest in Green Wave history.
In addition, Barrios became quarterback Rusty Lachaussee’s favorite target, as the Tulane signal-caller became the program’s first 1,000-yard passer. The defensive unit that would dominate opponents in 1969 was getting better and better thanks to the leadership of linebackers Rick Kingrea and Ray Hester.
The hype surrounding the 1970 team was in fact real and former Sports Information Director Bill Curl knew it, so when promoting the upcoming season, he left no stone unturned.
The “YEAR OF THE GREEN” was born.
If you lived in New Orleans leading up to the 1970 football season, you would be hard pressed to not find a bumper sticker or a billboard that read “YEAR OF THE GREEN” around town.
“I think it was a big plus to see all of the attention surrounding our football team heading into the 1970 season,” Bullard said. “When you see that type of attention out there, it really does help. We had a high level of confidence, that the 1970 season was going to be a breakout year for us, but we just didn’t know to what extent.”
For the first time in a long time, Tulane football had what it took to compete.
“It was pretty special and it made our team think that people were expecting some pretty big things out of us, so we had to get it in gear to try and live up to the billboards,” Barrios said.
In addition to its super sophomore class from 1969 returning for the 1970 campaign, Tulane also featured seniors Kingrea, Mike Walker and David Abercrombie, all of whom served as captains.
“Between Ricky Kingrea, Ray Hester, Joel Henderson and David Abercrombie, we had great leadership and that makes a difference,” Bullard said. “The leadership we had on that team had a lot to do with our success. All of those guys commanded our attention and we respected them and we honored them as our leaders.”
Through the leadership of Kingrea, Walker and Abercrombie, the Green Wave began to form a bond that translated to the field of competition.
“The thing that made this team so close was that we were together in the athletic dorm, we ate all of our meals together and then practiced together and that really formed a bond,” Barrios said.
The 1970 team did stumble out of the gate, however, as it dropped a nail-biting 21-14 decision at Texas Tech. Despite the tough loss, Tulane had no time to feel sorry for itself because the road ahead wouldn’t get any easier.
The next opponent? Nationally-ranked Georgia, which shut Tulane out the year before, 35-0.
“It meant a lot to play Georgia at home,” Barrios said. “You have to remember, when we played them the year before, that was our first varsity game. It was quite an eye-opening experience for all the sophomores that were starting that year, so to have them come to our place that year was a big deal. We were looking forward to them coming to our place, so that we could return the favor.”
In the past, a matchup with a nationally-ranked opponent like Georgia had the potential to unravel the team, but not this season. Tulane went on to shutout the Bulldogs in the second half to defeat Georgia, 17-14, in its home-opener.
“We really slugged it out with them toe-to-toe,” Barrios said. “I think that game really gave us the confidence that we could play with anybody.”
Following their win over Georgia, the Green Wave would go on to win six of their next eight games, defeating Illinois, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Miami and NC State to set up a marquee matchup with in-state rival LSU.
Tulane’s matchup with LSU was the Green Wave’s final game of the regular season in 1970 and no one wanted to miss it. A total of 81,233 fans crammed into Tulane Stadium in what was the largest sports crowd in the South that season.
The Green Wave outgained the Tigers in that matchup by a 319-269 count, but it was not enough for Tulane to defeat seventh-ranked LSU. Tulane dropped a 26-14 decision to the Tigers.
The “YEAR OF THE GREEN” looked to have come to a close.
But that was not the case.
Among those in attendance at Tulane Stadium in the Green Wave’s matchup with LSU that night were officials from the Liberty Bowl, who were more than impressed with the excitement surrounding Tulane football.
The Green Wave would then receive their first bowl bid in 31 years. Though Tulane entered the game, as a two-touchdown underdog to Colorado, the team responded in a big way.
Behind the strength of 8,000-plus Tulane fans who came to the Liberty Bowl, the Green Wave posted a 17-3 win over the Buffaloes to deliver the program’s second bowl win in school history.
“I think if you go back to look at the history of Tulane football, that 1970 season was a pivotal year that brought Tulane football into the modern era,” Barrios said.
The 1970 team finished with a No. 17 ranking, posted the most wins since 1948 and tallied just the second winning season for the program in 14 years. The team also featured a defensive backfield which held opponents in check all year.
Coached by Billy Tohill, Tulane defensive backs tallied 28 interceptions – a school record mark that still stands today.
“What really got me to go to Tulane more than anything else was Billy Tohill,” Bullard said. “He just made me feel like he wanted me there and he was very attentive. He coached our defensive backfield and the group we had back there was as good as anybody in the country. We really gelled as a unit and we responded to his coaching.”
The 1970 squad has been showered with honors since that memorable season and for good reason. Seven players from the 1970 team have been inducted into the Tulane University Athletics Hall of Fame and 10 would go on to play professionally.
Although it’s been fifty years since the 1970 team guided the Green Wave back to a bowl game, the memories still remain as clear today to all those involved with the team.
“This group meant a lot to people,” Bullard said. “When you play football, you grind down so low during those two-a-day practices before the season. It breaks you down, but when you get broken down like that, you connect on a deeper level than you would in any other way. Football is unique in that sense. The physicality of football and the amount of effort it takes from a practice standpoint, it just bonds you. I loved those guys and I still love those guys.”
The most recent recognition of the 1970 team came in 2017, as the entire team was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame.
“There’s a group of us that are as close today as we were 50 years ago,” Barrios said. “We can call each other anytime we want to and we can share ups and downs and the highs and lows. That camaraderie and friendship from 50 years ago is alive and well today.”
This Saturday against Army, Tulane Athletics will virtually honor the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Green Wave football team.
