Tulane Football Coach Identifies Most Important Needs Out of Transfer Portal

The Tulane Green Wave football team is finishing spring practice and assessing what positions of need are of highest priority in the transfer portal.

Credit: Tulane Athletics / Football

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The Tulane Green Wave football team conducted their final practice prior to the second transfer portal window opening on April 16.

With one practice and the spring game remaining, head coach Jon Sumrall is trying to assess the strengths of his team and the glaring areas that need a look into the players searching for new homes in college football.

Sumrall has been able to evaluate throughout 14 practice sessions and spoke with reporters Tuesday about what the finish line looks like for the team after spring.

“I’m trying to see what our most critical needs are,” Sumrall said. “We think we know what we need to address in the portal. We’re probably going to have to add a punter with the departures of guys. We need to get a corner. That's not optional; that's mandatory. A receiver is likely in the fold. A quarterback is potentially in the fold here. And then maybe an offensive lineman. Those guys are hard to find in the spring portal window.”

It's not the first time Sumrall has pointed to receiver as a need, as the two most proven roster additions have missed most of spring camp with injuries, Omari Hayes and Jimmy Calloway.

Punter Will Karoll unexpectedly entered the portal last week, and he followed cornerback and kickoff specialist Rayshawn Pleasant and linebacker Jesus Machado. Transfer offensive lineman Jude McCoskey also entered on Monday after joining the team this offseason. 

While all comments on needs should be taken with a grain of salt, Sumrall seemed perhaps more confident in the quarterback room with moving that need down to a potential one.

The room will need a third member after losing TJ Finley and converting Kellen Tasby to a potentially standout wide receiver.

However, the team is no longer in the sweepstakes for Nico Iamaleava. There will be several more quarterbacks to enter the portal in the next coming days, and it will be interesting to see how Sumrall attacks that third spot.

Sumrall still hopes to see a little more juice from some younger players who have shown promise. 

“We’re solidifying what our gaps in the roster are, and where do we need to go fix?” Sumrall said. “Then just some individual player development. You know who certain guys are. It’s putting some guys in some pressure situations that we know have talent, but they're less proven with time on task of doing it in the game: the Jamari McClures, the CJ [Zycarl] Lewises, the Kellen Tasbys on offense, right? Those are guys that stick out as, alright, I want to go see you make some plays. We're not installing a whole lot more down this back stretch. We're staying who we are and just looking at the roster.”

For some positions, the needs are clear and aren’t expected to be filled on the current roster, such as cornerback. For others on the cusp, they are under a head coach who will give the opportunity to anyone who earns it on the field.