Former Tulane Football Star Punter Transfers to UCLA Bruins

Former Tulane Green Wave football punter Will Karoll announced he will be transferring to the UCLA Bruins following his surprising portal entry.

Credit: Parker Waters - Tulane Athletics

The Tulane Green Wave football team was notably affected by the transfer portal in both the winter and spring windows for college football.

Tulane football head coach Jon Sumrall was tasked with replacing star quarterback Darian Mensah and running back Makhi Hughes after their landmark departures.

The team is poised to finalize the quarterback competition this fall between Kadin Semonza, Donovan Leary, and now Brendan Sullivan, and the running back room might end up being stronger as a whole.

Though surprising, those exits of star players at premium positions may need to be expected in college sports moving forward with NIL dominating the landscape.

What Sumrall certainly didn't anticipate was needing to replace his star punter in the final weeks of spring practice, as Will Karoll surprisingly entered the transfer portal.

He's now found his future home, as Pete Nakos of On3 Sports reports that Karoll is transferring to the UCLA Bruins.

Tulane punter Will Karoll has signed with UCLA, @On3sports has learned.

He's kicked 85 career punts with an average of 43.4 yards. He's netted 12 inside the 20 in his career. https://t.co/VxSGJETKD9 pic.twitter.com/OpMa2snp6A

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) May 5, 2025

Karoll heads to UCLA with 85 career punts and an average of 43.4 yards, and he has 12 punts inside the 20-yard line.

While Karoll wasn't the only player to enter the portal in the spring window, he was the only one to whom Sumrall pointed any allegations of tampering.

"He's leaving,” Sumrall said back in April. “He's decided to move on. It's the world we live in. We talked, and I'm not going to say everything that was said. You never know who's been talking to him. I think he probably already knows his destination. I'll just say that."

The Green Wave recouped losses pretty quickly with the addition of punter Alec Clark, who started for the Marshall Thundering Herd in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman last season.

Clark had 55 punts and an average of 42.4 yards with a long of 67 yards; he has 17 punts inside the 20-yard line and 11 for 50-plus yards.

He also has experience with Tulane's new special teams coordinator, Johnathan Galante, who was his coach at Marshall that he is now following uptown.

The pain point at punter was not an expected one, and it likely led to a shakeup in the team's portal strategy early in the window. However, it's one that Sumrall prioritized and took care of weeks before Karoll found his new destination with the addition of Clark.