Day 8 Tulane Spring Football: The Green Wave Report for April 2, 2026
It was a relatively comfortable morning for Day 8 of Tulane football's Spring practice. Very humid though. We checked it on the hygrometer at Yulman Stadium and it measured 278% (wink, wink).
Players Work with Each Other
We got to Yulman a little early this morning to see what was going on and, as usual, many of the players were here working out amongst themselves as is typical of this spring football practice. The offensive line was going through technique drills in one end zone, while the defense was doing there techniques on the practice field behind the students' section of the stadium.
Helmke Dressing Out
Today was the first time we got to see former St. Martin's kicker Cooper Helmke dressed out and kicking this spring. He is considered one of the leaders for earning the kicking spot this fall along with Ohio State transfer Jackson Courville. Both Helmke & Courville were practicing with no snaps, just a stand and no rush, but consistently hitting 40 to 50 yd field goal attempts.
The Day Belonged to the D
During team drills, it seemed like the defense owned the day, especially along the front line. Very few sizable holes could be opened for Wave running backs.
"It was probably a better day on defense than on offense, definitely," head coach Will Hall told us after today's practice. "We'll have to go in there (and watch the video tape) to see why. Hopefully it's because our defense was kicking butt. I think they were, sometimes. Sometimes it was some unclean football on both sides.
"We have a chance to be really good on defense," Hall continued. "We've been really good on defense here for a long time."
Extended Interviews on Our YouTube Channel
After practice today, we talked with head coach Will Hall about how much more of the offense still needs to be installed, where he sees the rest of his young quarterbacking group (behind the two competing for the starting slot, Kadin Semonza and Zeon Chriss-Gremillion), and the aforementioned blooming of the D-line. We'll also speak to one of those young linemen on the D-side, defensive lineman Reshad Sterling and his return to the New Orleans area, and redshirt tight end Gabe Lovorn, who expects to see extended playing time after a short four-game stretch last year. You can see those interviews in their entirety on our YouTube Channel. If you want to see just those interviews, please click here.
We hope you've enjoyed this special spring football edition of the Green Wave report. The next practice is set for Saturday morning, and we will have a report for you that afternoon at 4:00. If you like what we're doing, please make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel, like the videos, and comment as much as you want.
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.