Tulane Lands South Alabama Defensive End To Build Strong Trenches in Portal
In this story:
The Tulane Green Wave has operated with a strong transfer portal strategy of strengthening the trenches, and their latest signing adds to an impressive defensive line unit.
Tulane football announced the addition of defensive end Jordan Norman from the South Alabama Jaguars to the team.
Norman had offers from multiple Power 4 programs in college football, including the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, Purdue Boilermakers, Michigan State Spartans, Kansas Jayhawks, and Cincinnati Bearcats.
He joins the team with three years of eligibility remaining. Norman recorded 25 tackles, four tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks last season as a redshirt freshman. He played in three games as a true freshman in 2023 and recorded 1.5 sacks.
Norman played 393 total snaps in 2024, per Pro Football Focus, and on 252 pressure snaps, he had 25 pressures and two batted passes.
There are a lot of notable departures for Tulane to account for between the outgoing portal players and those going to the draft. The defensive line loses Parker Peterson and Matthew Fobbs-White to other programs, and graduates Erick Hicks, Terrell Allen, Patrick Jenkins, Adin Huntington, Shi'Keem Laister, and Javon Carter.
Norman marks the seventh defensive lineman signed out of the transfer portal for the Green Wave with a total of 27 incoming transfers. Santana Hopper, Harvey Dyson, and now Norman are joining as defensive ends. That position group retains starter Kam Hamilton and strong contributors Gerrod Henderson and Deshaun Batiste.
Defensive tackles Eliyt Nairne, Trevon McAlpine, and Derrick Shepard join returnee Elijah Champaigne at defensive tackle, and bandit Maurice Westmoreland is the only player at the position group besides freshman Warren Roberts Jr. Adonis Friloux is the sole listed nose tackle on the roster.
In addition, three more freshmen join with undefined spots; Nik Alston, Joshua Lewis, and Palanding Drammeh.
As defensive line coach Landius Wilkerson showed last season, the players will end up in the spots that best utilize their talent. Hamilton moved to the exterior from defensive tackle, and Peterson switched to nose tackle. Adin Huntington transferred in as a defensive end but landed at bandit, where he shined.
Importantly, that relationship likely played a key role in landing Norman.
Wilkerson joined the coaching staff from the Jaguars last season. He was on staff the prior year that saw Norman have his true freshman starts under Wilkerson, who was noted as a massive recruiting loss for South Alabama.
Head coach Jon Sumrall has illuminated a strong strategy of building the trenches as the paramount portal task.
Norman is the latest signing in a strong portal class that adheres to their coach's philosophy of a blue-collar mentality.
Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com