Coach Hutson looks to homecoming and beyond
Now that Bob Toledo has stepped down from his position as head coach of the Tulane Green Wave football team, the outcome of the remainder of the season is in the hands of Mark Hutson, the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach who has been named interim head coach.
Mark Hutson, newly named interim Green Wave head football coach, says that it will take a "united front" of players and coaches to move forward in the remaining games of the season. “We must come together in that effort and turn the program around,” Hutson said at a press conference on Oct. 18. (Photo by Tulane Athletics)
At a press conference on Tuesday (Oct. 18), Hutson said the goals for the football program have not changed from those at the outset of the season.
“Our goals are still intact. That would be a bowl game and perhaps an additional game leading up to that,” said Hutson, referring to the Conference USA championship game.
More immediately, Hutson said his staff and players are focused on defeating the Memphis Tigers at the homecoming game scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22. “It starts with Memphis this week, and we will do everything in our power as coaches and players to work toward that.”
This is not the first time Hutson has accepted the role of interim head coach. Prior to arriving at Tulane, he served in that capacity in 2006 for the Eastern Illinois Panthers, guiding the team to a co-Ohio Valley Conference championship and a No. 15 national ranking. Before joining the Panthers' staff, Hutson served as the offensive line coach at the University of Tulsa from 2000â“02.
Hutson, who was a two-time All American lineman at Oklahoma (1986â“87), noted that his dedication to student athletes was among his reasons to be a coach. “I think we can make a difference in young men's lives, not only in football but after when their careers are done.”
Athletics director Rick Dickson, who announced that the university has already begun a national search for the next Green Wave head coach, did not rule out the possibility that Hutson would be among the candidates under consideration.
