Top Ten Article Countdown of 2025: Sumrall Replacement Speculation
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Through the end of this year, we're counting down your favorite articles. The metric used is the total number of page views by those visiting ON SI Tulane.
Published on December 2, 2025, reporter Colin Cummings took a look at the top names being bandied about as possible replacements for Jon Sumrall as head football coach. We didn't give our opinion on these names, just wanted you, the reader, to get some background on who they were. Here are excerpts from that story.
"The coaching carousel has been in full swing these past few weeks with a hefty amount of firings and hirings. One of them is Tulane's own Jon Sumrall, who has just been hired as the next head coach of the University of Florida. So with that, what's next for the Wave?
"When it comes to hiring a coach, we can't simply just go with "who has the most success?" Brian Kelly's recent tenure at neighboring school, LSU, is a testament to that question. The Wave will not just need success, but a nice cultural fit for not just Tulane, but the city of New Orleans itself.
"We believe it's worth mentioning that TU athletic director David Harris brought to light the pre-requisites that Tulane would look at when hiring their next coach, 'Those who have head coaching experience will probably have a leg up, but ultimately, when you're looking at the big picture, we're going to keep our options open.'"
The Options...
LSU Defensive Coordinator, Blake Baker
"Baker has been in the coaching sphere for a little over a decade, tracing back to his Bulldog days at LA Tech in 2014. He would serve as their defensive coordinator in 2015, before leaving for the same job at the University of Miami in 2019.
"Baker would serve two separate stints at LSU. Once in 2021, where he was a linebackers coach, but he would not be retained by Brian Kelly, forcing him to leave for an in-conference opponent, Missouri.
Texas Tech Defensive Coordinator, Shiel Wood
"Wood controls one of the most suffocating defenses in college football currently. Tech ranks sixth in the country in total defense, first in rushing defense, and third in scoring. They've allowed 258.9-yards, 68.9-yards, and a measly 11.25-points per game respectively.
"Wood's blood ran green at some point, as he was the defensive coordinator for the Wave during the Fritz era in the 2023-2024 season. Not to mention that he was also coach Sumrall's defensive coordinator when he was a head coach at Troy."
There are three other names we found that are mentioned in that article, which you can read in its entirety right here.
On Saturday, December 27th, the fourth most popular article, as voted on by you, the readers, ON SI Tulane.
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.