Fans of the Tulane Green Wave football team know what it’s like to lose their head coach when they realize success at the Group of Five level.
One season after losing coach Willie Fritz to the Houston Cougars, the Green Wave landed one of the hottest names in college football in Jon Sumrall.
While he was linked to several Power Four openings as Tulane football finished 9-5 in his first season, Sumrall eventually signed an extension to remain uptown in New Orleans.
However, that only goes so far as a buyout clause, and prominent college football analyst David Pollack thinks Sumrall is a name to watch on the coaching carousel.
Even five years ago, the qualities required for a successful college football coach weren’t close to the job description in today’s landscape.
Recruiting is a 24/7 job that involves high school players, transfer portal prospects, and consistently engaging with those already on a coach’s roster.
Pollack focused on Sumrall’s success in these areas when he praised him on his show See Ball Get Ball.
“He’s definitely next in that wave,” David Pollack said. “And I think he’s been very picky because he can be. Because he knows he’s going to be really good at Tulane. They were 9-5 last year. He gets unbelievable talent from the portal. Again, you’ve got to be able to recruit. Like, you’ve got to be able to do that. Also, when you see guys going into the portal that are from Tulane, going to major universities. He’s doing something right.”
Sumrall took over a strong foundation laid by Fritz that included several core starters for the team last season: Darian Mensah, Makhi Hughes, Alex Bauman, Yulkeith Brown, Dontae Fleming, Patrick Jenkins, Tyler Grubbs, and Bailey Despanie, to name a few.
He also brought in star transfers like Mario Williams. Importantly, he put all those players in positions to succeed—to the point where he couldn’t afford to keep many.
“He’s taking his talent,” Pollack said. “And he is absolutely taking them, developing them, to the point where they’re getting stolen because he can’t afford them. He’s one of the highest-paid guys in that division for a reason.”
To Pollack’s point, Sumrall is a 42-year-old young star in the profession who is only in his fourth season as a head coach. He was linked to AAC and Big 12 schools last cycle, including the UNC Tar Heels and UCF Knights.
Pollack thinks eventually Sumrall will land in the top conference in the sport.
“He’ll be an SEC coach,” Pollack said. “You can write that down. I think he’ll be a guy that’s in the SEC. I think it’ll make a lot of sense. Where he lives right now in New Orleans, understanding the Southeast, there’s a real deal to that. I think it’s gonna happen.”
That’s not exactly comforting for Green Wave fans to hear. However, it’s an unavoidable part of sustained success.
In the era of college football that’s dominated by NIL and the transfer portal, it can feel impossible to succeed at the Power Four level, let alone the Group of Five.
Sumrall experienced those harsh effects when he lost Mensah, Hughes, and other stars this last cycle.
He has also done enough to reload the team to be back on the radar as a rising coach to watch, and that bodes well for Tulane as they look to break into the College Football Playoff next season.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
