Tulane Coach Sumrall Reacts to Rumors of Other Job Opportunities
Already a dozen Division 1 college coaches have been fired, and it seems that Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall is part of the discussion of whether or not he will be considered for a post somewhere else. We asked him about that today (Monday) after practice.
ON SI Tulane: Coach, the coaching carousel is in full swing, and your name comes up with each one. Would you like to react to that?
Sumrall: It's consistent. I've dealt with it every year as head coach. You know what I mean? I get this question every year. I'm so focused on where we're at as a team. Maybe even more so than ever. I was a maniac at practice two days ago...because I fear complacency. I fear distraction. I'm the head football coach at Tulane. I'll talk about Tulane. I'll talk about us playing UTSA. I'll probably get asked this tomorrow, I'm sure, too. (But) UTSA is 22-0 at home in conference games since 2020. I've got enough problems with this football game to not be distracted by anything other than them.
Sumrall: Look, coaching changes happen in the middle of the year. My heart breaks for those programs, players, families involved, all that stuff. I think what people forget is there are humans involved. These people aren't robots. I don't care if they're talking about coaches, assistant coaches, wives, kids, the players. I addressed our team in July. "Guys, end of season is a time to talk about what is next. In the season is the time to worry about winning a game each week." At the end of the year, our players have to make decisions. We lost half our roster last year. It's not just coaches anymore, it's everybody. I told them, guys, let's let the season be the season. Let's not allow BS distractions of somebody putting out a speculative article about who could be a candidate here, who could transfer. Let's just play football games, have fun doing it together.
Sumrall: I'm more focused on this team this week than I've ever been on anything. I will not be blindsided by somebody saying, "Hey, you should consider doing this."
Sumrall: I got one job offer right now that's been offered to me. It's to be the head coach at Tulane, and I'm all in on that. That's all I'll say.
The Green Wave are in Texas this Thursday for a prime time game to take on the University of Texas San Antonio at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN
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.