Tulane’s Patrick Durkin a Phil Steele Honorable Mention All-American
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Tulane football kicker Patrick Durkin was selected as an Honorable Mention All-American by the Phil Steele Magazine recently. He was also one of 14 Green Wave players that earned All-Conference honors from the magazine.
Durkin, in his second year at Tulane, was the team’s primary kicker in all 14 games. On the season he was 25-for-28 on field goals and 41-for-42 on extra points. He went 7-for-9 from 40+ including four made kicks of 50+ with a long of 52. The 25 made field goals from Durkin this year were the most in school history for a single season and ranked him seventh nationally. His 116 points led the conference, was the most-ever for a kicker in school history and tied for the fifth-most for any player overall in the school record book. He also had 69 touchbacks on 80 kickoffs this season (86.2 percent). He was previously a First Team All-Conference selection for the first time in his career as well as being named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Durkin also was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week three times throughout the campaign (Sept. 1, Oct. 13 and Nov. 24). Durkin also was a First Team Phil Steele All-Conference selection.
Joining Durkin on Phil Steele’s American All-Conference teams were Jahiem Johnson (First Team), Jack Tchienchou (First Team), Alec Clark (First Team), Shadre Hurst (Second Team), Santana Hopper (Second Team), Jake Retzlaff (Third Team), Derrick Graham Third Team), Kameron Hamilton (Third Team), Tre’Von McAlpine (Third Team), Sam Howard (Third Team), Harvey Dyson III (Fourth Team), Javion White (Fourth Team), and Jason Arredondo (Fourth Team).
Johnson, in his second year at Tulane, started all 14 games at cornerback. He had 42 tackles, a stop for loss, four interceptions, a team-high nine pass breakups, and a forced fumble. His four interceptions led the team and were second in the conference. He was previously an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection by the American Conference.
Tchienchou, is in his second year at Tulane, played and started all 14 games this season at safety. He led the team with 83 tackles including two tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and three passes defended. He was also named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2025 American Conference Championship Game.
Clark, in his first year at Tulane, proved to be one of the top punters in the nation with an average of 46.5 yards per punt with a long of 70. Of his 48 punts, 16 were for 50+. He also placed 16 inside the 20. His punting average would place him fourth nationally if he had enough kicks to qualify statistically. He was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 29.
Hurst, in his third year at the school, started all 14 games for Tulane this season with 13 at left guard and one at left tackle. He helped the offense rank in the top 10 nationally in sack allowed per game (6th - 0.77) and tackles for loss allowed per game (7th - 3.69). The Green Wave offense averaging 4.5 yards per carry on the ground with 2318 rushing yards. The passing game sported an average of 245.1 yards a contest with an impressive 13.09 yards per completion. The offense scored 20+ points in 12 games including seven contests with 30+. He was previously a 2025 First Team American All-Conference selection.
Hopper, in his first year at Tulane, played in all 14 games with 13 starts on the defensive line. On the season he had 31 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. His tackles for loss ranked second on the team. He was previously named the American Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29, was a First Team American All-Conference selection, and a PFSN Third Team All-American.
Retzlaff, in his first year at Tulane after transferring from BYU, ended his 2025 season leading the team in passing (3168 yards) and rushing (634 yards). His 16 rushing touchdowns were a new school record for Tulane for a quarterback. He became the first non-running back to lead Tulane in rushing since 2019. His 3,168 yards places him third all-time at Tulane in single season passing. On the season play and started all 14 games at quarterback going 242-for-391 passing with 15 passing touchdowns with a 61.9 completion percentage and a quarterback efficiency of 139.0. He was also honored by the American Conference seven times on the season with weekly awards.
Graham, in his second year at Tulane, played and started 13 games at left tackle this season. He helped the offense rank in the top 10 nationally in sack allowed per game (6th - 0.77) and tackles for loss allowed per game (7th - 3.69). The Green Wave offense averaging 4.5 yards per carry on the ground with 2318 rushing yards. The passing game sported an average of 245.1 yards a contest with an impressive 13.09 yards per completion. The offense scored 20+ points in 12 games including seven contests with 30+. He was previously a 2025 First Team American All-Conference selection.
Hamilton, in his fourth year at Tulane, played and started all 14 games on the defensive line. He totaled 29 tackles, four stops for loss, three pass breakups, and three sacks.
McAlpine, in his first year at Tulane, has played in all 14 games with 12 starts on the defensive line. He totaled 35 tackles, two stops for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He was previously a Second Team All-Conference selection by the league.
Howard, in his second year at Tulane, played and started 11 games at linebacker. Despite missing three games with injury, he ranked fifth on the team in tackles with 50 and was third on the squad with 8.5 stops for loss. He also had four sacks and a forced fumble. He was previously a Second Team All-Conference selection by the league.
Dyson, in his first year at Tulane, played and started all 14 games for Tulane at linebacker. He totaled 36 tackles, 11.5 stops for loss, eight sacks and two forced fumbles on the campaign. He led the squad in tackles for loss and sacks. He was previously a Third Team All-Conference selection by the league.
White, in his second year at Tulane, played and started all 14 games at cornerback. He totaled 50 tackles, 3.5 stops for loss, six pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and three interceptions.
Arredondo, in his first year at Tulane, has served as the team’s long snapper on all punts and field goal attempts this season. The squad’s special teams’ unit made a school-record 25 field goals in 28 attempts (89.3 percent) plus a punting average of 46.3 yards per kick. He was previously a Third Team All-Conference selection by the league.
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.