Background
Scelfo was born in Abbeville, Louisiana on September 30, 1963, and later lived in New Iberia, Louisiana, where he attended New Iberia High School.
Scelfo was born in Abbeville, Louisiana on September 30, 1963, and later lived in New Iberia, Louisiana, where he attended New Iberia High School.
Scelfo graduated with a bachelor"s degree from Northeast Louisiana in 1986 and received a master"s degree from there in 1988.
He served as head coach at Tulane from 1998 to 2006, including in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and amassed a 37–57 record. He previously held assistant coaching positions at Marshall and Georgia. He went on to college at Northeast Louisiana University.
He played football in high school and college, and was a three-year letterwinner at both institutions.
In college, he also served as the team captain. Scelfo gained his first coaching experience as a graduate assistant at his alma mater from 1986 to 1987, and then in the same position at the University of Oklahoma from 1988 to 1989.
He then served as the offensive line coach at Marshall University from 1990 to 1995, and also held the position of offensive coordinator in his last three seasons there. Scelfo then spent three seasons at the University of Georgia as its assistant head and offensive line coach.
Tulane University in New Orleans hired Scelfo to replace Tommy Bowden as its 36th coach mid-season on December 7, 1998.
The only game he coached that year was the Liberty Bowl, where he led the Green Wave to victory over Brigham Young. In 2002, Scelfo led Tulane to the 2002 Hawai"i Bowl, where they defeated June Jones" high-octane Hawaii Warriors. The victory made Scelfo the only Tulane coach in history with two bowl game wins.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, the Tulane football team was forced to play all 11 of its games on the road, each in a different city, which may have contributed to the Green Wave"s 2–9 record.
Ole Mission head coach Editor Orgeron contacted a Tulane assistant about players transferring in the wake of the hurricane. Scelfo accused Ole Mission of tampering and said:
"In the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States, you"ve got to stoop pretty low to do that.
You"re lower than dirt. I"m not going to tolerate that.
There"s people in our business that don"t belong in our business."
The Southeastern Conference investigated the matter and exonerated Ole Mission of any wrongdoing.
After failing to compile a winning season since 2002, Tulane fired Scelfo on November 29, 2006. His final record at Tulane was 37–57. In January 2008, the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL hired Scelfo as its tight ends coach.
Married Nancy Caldwell. Children: Sarah Beth, Joseph World War II.