Tulane Coach Jon Sumrall Calls Out Northwestern About Uniform Dispute

The Green Wave stomped the Wildcats in their season-opener.

Aug 30, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall looks on against Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Yulman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Tulane was unrelenting in its season-opening demolition of Northwestern on Saturday. Shortly after the Green Wave's 23-3 win over the 'Cats, head coach Jon Sumrall revealed a major source of his team's motivation.

On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane honored the community that persevered through the devastating storm and paid tribute to its 2005 team. The Green Wave wore green helmets without decals, similar to those of the team that played its first game following the hurricane. However, Sumrall and Tulane wanted to do even more of a tribute.

"I'm going to say one thing, I'm not trying to take a shot, but we requested to wear white jerseys, because that's what that team wore," Sumrall said during his postgame press conference. "It got denied by the other team. That's their prerogative, but when you show disrespect to the city of New Orleans, that's what's going to happen to you. You're going to run into a team like this."

Northwestern wore white uniforms, white pants and white helmets on Saturday. The Green Wave wore logoless helmets and white pants as planned, but could not match the 2005 team's full outfit by wearing their white uniforms. Instead, Tulane wore green jerseys.

"They had a chip on their shoulder," Sumrall said. "I wanted them to wear the same exact uniform that team wore 20 years ago. The request got denied. We might have used that for a little bit of motivation to represent the city. Don't disrespect New Orleans, ever."

Sumrall did not mince words regarding Northwestern, which evidently had a different side of the story. According to ESPN reporter Adam Rittenberg, Tulane did not request to wear the white jerseys until August 17, after the Wildcats had already begun moving their equipment to Louisiana for the game. The team had apparently already sent its uniforms, decals and more to New Orleans by the time Tulane officially made the request.

Regardless of which party was right or wrong, the incident clearly fueled Tulane enough to cruise to a 20-point victory. The Green Wave forced five Wildcat turnovers, including two turnovers on downs, in the resounding early-season win.