Tulane Boss Jon Sumrall One of Most Underrated Coaches in College Football
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The Tulane Green Wave football team has about two more months until fall camp begins in preparation for the 2025 college football season.
The Green Wave are entering their second season under head coach Jon Sumrall, who led the team to a 9-5 record last year, a third straight trip to the American Athletic Conference title game, and a berth to the Gasparilla Bowl.
While they lost a lot of star talent this offseason in the transfer portal, namely starting quarterback Darian Mensah and running back Makhi Hughes, Tulane football kept Sumrall and both coordinators, giving the program stability.
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Sumrall is only in his fourth year as a head coach in college football, but he's catching attention across the nation as a coach to watch in the Group of Five.
Sumrall appeared on Josh Pate's College Football Show this past offseason and made an impression on the CFB host in his first year with the Green Wave.
Pate recently named the most underrated head coaches in college football on his show.
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When Pate got to the G5 level, he immediately zeroed in on two AAC coaches he believes will be at Power Four jobs soon: Sumrall and South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh.
Pate thinks Sumrall and Golesh could already have jobs at that level, but they know college football is a business first and foremost, and they're both in good spots.
That's good news for Tulane fans as he continued to boost Sumrall's profile.
“Jon Sumrall is only a fourth-year head coach, but he's got two titles at Troy,” Pate said. “He just went 9-5 at Tulane. We went down there a couple of months ago, spent the afternoon with him, and he just gets it. I don't know; you know when you're sitting with the real deal. He's the real deal.”
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Pate likely saw a candid version of Sumrall, as that sit-down was around the time Mensah left for the Duke Blue Devils, and things were still raw.
That type of passion is also what has resonated with fans and insiders across the sport, as has his adaptable mentality that's critical for success in the current NIL era.
Now, the Green Wave walloped the Bulls last year in a 45-10 win to start conference play, but they were a team that went toe-to-toe with the Alabama Crimson Tide and lost their quarterback to an injury in the loss at Yulman Stadium.
They won't see them this season unless both make the title game—undoubtedly a goal for Tulane that they know they can reach.
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Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com