Sumrall Meets Media, Gets Emotional Talking about His Team, NOLA
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On Tuesday, Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall met with New Orleans media for the first time since deciding he is moving to Florida to coach the Gators.
Sumrall was forthcoming in a wide-ranging interview with the media. He talked about the American Conference championship this Friday against North Texas, but most of the questions had to to with him moving on to Florida from Uptown.
Sumrall said he was intentional in making sure the next job was the right one for him and his family.
"When I got here (to Tulane), I wasn't going to leave just for a Power 4 job," Sumrall told us. "If I was going to leave, it was going to be for a top ten job. It was kind of what I decided. I wasn't taking an average Power 4 job. This job (coaching at Tulane) is better than an average Power 4 job. This job (at Tulane) is going to get a lot of attention, because it's a great job."
As he spoke about his schedule, Sumrall said he took care of a few obligations at Florida yesterday, and that he's done there through the rest of this week, so he can concentrate on getting Tulane prepared for Friday's American Conference championship.
"After our game (against North Texas), if it goes the way we want it to, I'll kind of be back and forth (between New Orleans and Gainesville) and getting ready for the next one," Sumrall said referring to the College Football Playoffs. "I am very grateful that I was allowed to the opportunity to finish the job with this football team." Both Tulane and Florida agreed for Sumrall to continue to coach the Green Wave for its end of season run.
When we asked him his players' reaction to his announcement on Sunday afternoon, emotions kicked in.
Sumrall went on: "I think the players want that (to finish the job of coaching this season out), I want that, The players, when I asked them what they wanted, they said, 'Yeah, coach, you better finish the job with us.' I could not be more grateful that both sides (Tulane and Florida) are comfortable with that."
Wednesday is National Signing Day for football, and Sumrall says he wants his current and future employers to do well.
"I'd like to see Tulane finish strong on signing day," Sumrall started, "and I'd like to see Florida finish strong, obviously, on signing day. I'm just worried about getting this football team ready to play a game (on Friday). That's the most important thing going on in my life right now, is getting this team ready to play on Friday night."
We asked Sumrall what he was going to miss the most about New Orleans, and his sleep deprived brain didn't take long to kick in to gear.
"Restaurants," Sumrall started with, "Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Hogs for the Cause...I could list about a hundred things in New Orleans. I've already texted the guys with Hogs for the Cause, and I was telling them, 'Do not worry. I'll be back for Hogs.' They said, 'You've got backstage passes.' I said, 'That's great, as long as it's unlimited beer.'"
Tomorrow, we'll get you reaction from Tulane players on hearing their coach was leaving.
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.