Tulane Football Can Lean On Defensive Playmakers To Help Shape Team

The Tulane Green Wave football team finished the first week of spring practice with a strong defense to lean on and compete against.

Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Tulane Green Wave football team put pads on for Saturday’s spring practice, and the defense responded with a resounding boom.

It showed the value of retaining a core of players that continues to dwindle in college football by the season. The Tulane football defenders that return on the roster are a group of playmakers. 

The competitive, physical session followed up a Thursday practice that featured several impressive takeaways by the secondary.

While the quarterback competition led to several interceptions throughout spring camp last year, it often felt like the result of poor decision-making by the signal callers.

It’s still extremely early, but it felt like the defense was starting to take form by the second practice. Sumrall noted that energy followed a competitive drill period on Thursday. 

He pointed to an interception by Jack Tchienchou off a corner pressure and called it an “unbelievable play” that the second-year safety ran back for a touchdown. 

The team faced a challenge on Saturday due to the palpable confidence gained from a fierce session on the defensive side of the ball.

“Early in practice the defense got the better of the drills,” Sumrall said. “The offense started a bit sluggish. The last team period, the offense responded well. Some good give and take on both sides. Both sides had individuals that flashed. If you had asked me at the break point in the middle of practice, I would have said I was disappointed, but it picked up and the guys competed well. There is definitely positive energy right now for sure.” 

It's important for a defense to be winning early on in spring and fall camps, as the practice setting tends to favor them. It was concerning at this point last year that the plays being made felt more like errors on offense than a display of starting traits.

When a head coach points out a defensive front in that type of setting, it really had to have left an impression on Sumrall.

“You feel our defensive front right now, probably more so than you did a year ago at this time, to be quite honest with you,” Sumrall said. “The defensive front's got good depth and the ability to affect the passer. It just feels like there are a lot of guys who are pushing to get better."

That will test the quarterbacks when they conduct their first scrimmage next Saturday more than anything on the field, but the coverage has provided a strong evaluative tool for the coaches surveying the next quarterback for the Green Wave.