College Football Insider Praises Direction of Tulane Green Wave Football

In a recent mailbag, a college football writer was upbeat about the direction of the Tulane Green Wave football program.

Sep 14, 2024; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall reacts during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Building sustained success in college football is tough. Doing it at the Group of 5 level is more difficult, especially in the era of the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness.

But the Tulane Green Wave are making it work, and in the opinion of one of college football’s top writers, he likes where the program is headed.

Chris Vannini covers college football for The Athletic, but his specific emphasis is on the Group of 5 conferences — the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.

In his recent mailbag, he was asked about the Green Wave’s long-term prospects in the current landscape. He was bullish on where they are headed.

Why? He acknowledged the difficult environment for programs like Tulane, as players like former quarterback Darian Mensah left for Duke and running back Makhi Hughes left for Oregon.

But, coach Jon Sumrall, entering his second year with the program, and his staff did a great job with the transfer portal this offseason, bringing in more than two dozen players, including three quarterbacks that have FBS starting experience and can compete for the starting job.

“It’s simply going to be really hard for Group of 5 teams to keep their best players,” Vannini wrote. “The ones that will thrive are the ones that find the replacements. Tulane, with one of the best NIL operations in the G5, is doing that.”

It isn’t just the NIL that’s working for the Green Wave. The school recently announced that a practice facility is coming, one that will be used by football and other sports.

The enclosed practice field will feature an inflatable, removable cover and sides and will be the approximate width of a football field. The domed covering will be 60 feet high to accommodate punting and kicking practice. The bubble is also removable in case of weather events like hurricanes.

It’s just the latest example of the athletic department’s growing commitment to building a football program that can compete with not just the Group of 5 schools but also contend for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.

In his first year Sumrall led the Green Wave to a 9-5 record, reached the American Athletic Conference championship game for the third straight season and played in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Along the way, the Green Wave were ranked in both the AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff Top 25.