College football coach donates $100,000 to former school after departure

An outgoing head coach has announced a $100,000 donation to his former college football program

Aug 30, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall looks on against Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Yulman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The 2025 College Football Playoff is set to begin on Friday.

Among the first four matchups of the 2025 College Football Playoff is No. 11 Tulane (11-2, 7-1) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) in a regular-season rematch at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (3:30 p.m. EST, TNT).

Lane Kiffin added a fascinating wrinkle to the upcoming matchup when he announced his decision to leave the Rebels to take the head coaching vacancy at LSU left by Brian Kelly. Ole Miss did not allow him to coach in the College Football Playoff.

Ole Miss is not alone in this matchup when it comes to making a coaching change in 2026. Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall accepted the head coaching vacancy left at Florida by Billy Napier on Nov. 30.

Unlike Ole Miss's decision with Kiffin, Tulane is allowing Sumrall to coach the Green Wave through the 2025 College Football Playoff. As an act of gratitude, Sumrall's family is donating in support of the succeeding head coach, Will Hall, and Tulane's NIL collective.

RELEASE: @CoachJonSumrall And Family Make $100,000 Gift To Support @Coach_Hall7, Green Wave Talent Fund

🔗 https://t.co/sJt7THPA6M#RollWave pic.twitter.com/f3soJrJaR7

— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) December 15, 2025

The former Kentucky linebacker came up through the coaching ranks as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with stops at San Diego, Troy, Tulane, Ole Miss and Kentucky.

It was Troy who hired Sumrall to his first head coaching job in 2022. The Trojans were 23-4 overall with Sumrall at the helm and won the Sun Belt Conference championship in each of his two seasons on the job.

Sumrall accepted the Tulane head coaching vacancy left by Willie Fritz in the 2024 offseason. The Green Wave finished the 2024 regular season 9-3 overall, with two of their three losses coming against Power Four programs in Kansas State and Oklahoma.

The mark was good enough for an American Conference championship appearance against Army, a game Tulane lost 35-14. Ironically, the Green Wave fell to Florida (33-8) in the Gasparilla Bowl to end the season.

Tulane won its first three non-conference games of 2025 at Northwestern (23-3), against South Alabama (33-31) and Duke (34-27). The loss was, of course, at Ole Miss (45-10) on Sept. 20.

The Green Wave won all of its home games in American Conference play against East Carolina (26-19), Army (24-17), Florida Atlantic (35-24) and Charlotte (27-0)

Tulane's lone road loss in conference play was at UTSA (48-26) on Oct. 30. The Green Wave won games at Tulsa (31-14), Memphis (38-32) and Temple (37-13).

The American Conference championship win against North Texas (34-21) solidified Tulane's spot as a Group of 5 bid in the 2025 College Football Playoff.