Tulane Announces Football Coach Sumrall Leaving for Florida

The Tulane athletic department announced at a media conference Sunday afternoon the departure of head football coach Jon Sumrall to the Florida Gator football program. In the Glazier Family Club, Athletic Director David Harris made the declaration to the media, showing there were no bridges burning between the Tulane and the new Florida coach.

"Coach Sumrall has informed the Board and me that he is accepting the head coaching position at the University of Florida," Harris began. "We are thankful to Jon and his family. He's managed roster turnover and has been able to replace great players with new great players. He was a pleasure to work with every single day. He was exactly who we thought we were getting when we went through the hiring process. We wish him well in the next step of his journey."

Sumrall requested from both Florida and Tulane the chance to coach the Green Wave through its championship game this Friday against North Texas and beyond, if the Wave make the College Football Playoffs. Mean Green coach Eric Morris requested the same thing from both North Texas and his future home Oklahoma State. Both schools consented. Harris addressed the Tulane side of things.

"We just feel it's the right thing to do for our student-athletes," Harris told the media, "and it gives us the best opportunity to win those games."

The American Conference championship game will now feature two teams coached by coaches heading for what they hope are greener pastures, which should make for an interesting story line.

Knowing Where Sumrall Stood Was an Advantage

Harris pointed out that he knew Sumrall leaving for another program was a possibility for a while now.

"We've had proactive conversations with Jon and his agent," Harris told us. "Jon and I typically met every two weeks on Tuesdays to give us an opportunity to know and understand what was important to him, the same way we did last year. We put together a very competitive retention package, proactively, in order to be able to retain his services. People can rest assured that those conversations were had."

The Success of Tulane Will Lead to a Successful Hire

Instead of bemoaning losing his football coach, Harris pointed to how Tulane has succeeded.

"When you have some level of success, this can be what occurs," Harris said. "You take the approach that you want to get the very best you can for your program, but you know there may come a day where they (the coach) makes a decision that another program is a better step for them at that particular time.

"We believe our success," Harris said pointing out the 42-wins over the last four seasons, "has risen to a level where it is getting national attention, and we believe that national attention is going to help us identify the next football coach for the Tulane Green Wave. That process has already begun. We are working with CSA Search & Consulting. They did the search in which we hired Jon, as well as when we hired (women's basketball) coach (Ashley) Langford and did the search when I was hired here as the athletic director. Justin Schemmel, our (athletics) COO (Chief Operating Officer) and Patrick Norton, the COO on campus will be assisting me in the search process.

No Specific Timeline for the Hiring

"While we don't have an exact timeline on how long the search will take," Harris continued, "we will be looking to move as quickly as we possibly can to find our next head coach."

Harris included attributes such as a proven track record of success and the ability to recruit both high school and the transfer portal athletes, in his list of criteria. He did not cross out anyone who has not been a head coach, though those seemed like preferrable traits for the next head coach.

"Those who have head coaching experience will probably have a leg up," Harris pointed out, "but ultimately, when you're looking at the big picture, we're going to keep our options open.

"We want to build the foundation of a program bigger than any one individual," Harris said. "We want to do the work that, no matter what happens, as we go forward we feel like we have the pieces in place to have a championship caliber program. We believe we have an elite job."

Harris Appreciated What He Called Sumrall's Transparency

Harris was quick to point out Sumrall's transparency throughout the process.

"From the first time I met him to the latest conversations we've had, (Sumrall) has always been transparent," Harris nodded. "He'll tell you what he thinks, what he feels. He's going to be very honest. As we've engaged in conversations during this process, it's been great for me, because you don't have to worry or wonder what's going on, or maybe what you're not being told. Jon was very open with me about the possibility of these opportunities, what he was thinking about, and what he was doing."

December Recruiting Still in Sumrall's Hands

When asked about the December recruiting period, Harris told the media Sumrall will be a part of it as long as he is Tulane's head coach.

"For us, Jon continues to be our head coach," Harris pointed out. "He will be working with his recruiting staff, assistant coaches, and I'll be working with them as well. Those that are doing that job are going to continue doing that work. Jon and I have had that conversation, and he has assured me he will be working on behalf of Tulane football to help bring in the very best class he can during that time period. We trust the work he's going to do, the work his staff is doing. I believe him to be a man of his word. I've never known him to be anything other than that."

Team Reaction to the News

We asked Harris what the reaction of the team was when Sumrall broke the news to them.

"I was there," Harris told us. "We had a team meeting this afternoon (Sunday) at one o'clock. I would say, as Jon and I have talked about the transparency he's had with the team the whole time, it didn't feel like he was coming in to drop an unexpected bomb (on the team). He did it in such a way that he gave them the information they needed to know, then quickly pivoted back to what we were here to get accomplished this week. He clearly didn't want the meeting to be about him. He wanted it to be about the guys in that room.

"I had a chance to speak to the team right after he did," Harris continued. "I had the same concern and the same goal in mind. People will figure out what will happen next and there's plenty of time to have those conversations. But during a week, when you have a chance to prepare to play for and win a championship, you don't want anything, even something this significant, to be what those guys are focusing on. I think he (Sumrall) said what he needed to say and focused on what needed to be focused on, and that the guys' reaction was positive. I know they're not happy to be losing their coach, but I think they felt very positive that the direction of the program for this week, the focus they have had all season was not going to be impacted."