With all eyes focused on one of the more intriguing quarterback competitions in college football, the Tulane Green Wave have concluded the first session of spring practice.
Despite losing Darian Mensah to the Duke Blue Devils in the transfer portal after just one season as the team’s starter, the process that produced the former Tulane football star is precisely the draw of the program.
Head coach Jon Sumrall didn’t care who had the biggest NIL deal, highest star rating, or most experience at the collegiate level when he decided to go with the redshirt freshman as the starter.
That risk paid off with a nine-win season and their third consecutive appearance in the AAC championship game, further impacting the incoming competitors.
Honesty guided Sumrall’s recruiting strategy in his first season, and this trend carried over into the selection of the three new prospects.
Following Tuesday’s practice, Donovan Leary, TJ Finley and Kadin Semonza spoke with reporters and all mentioned the decisions made last offseason.
Leary is perhaps the closest emulator of Mensah as the one who hasn’t seen much playing time or been a starter, but his confidence jumped out.
“I feel like I was ready to play when I was at Illinois, and I was looking for the best opportunity to come in and compete for a job where I could just thrive,” Leary said. “As soon as I came here on my official visit, Coach Sumrall and Coach Craddock were so easygoing with me and open. They told me, Hey, we lost some quarterbacks in the room; we are going to have to bring some guys in. But the one thing that sold me was that they said the best guy is going to play, no matter what. We don’t care about NIL, who’s coming from where, or who’s played; the best guy will play. I thought if that’s the case, this is the best opportunity for me.”
Many coaches will make promises of starting roles and NIL opportunities to draw players from the portal, but rarely do they have a resume that lines their actions up with their words.
For that reason, Leary specifically gravitated toward the Green Wave.
“You take a guy like Ty Thompson, who’s an excellent quarterback who transferred in,” Leary continued. “And Darian Mensah came in and did what he was supposed to do and ultimately won the job. It wasn’t about NIL. It wasn’t about past playing time or where he came from. The best guy is going to play on the field.”
When Finley discussed his experience and its potential advantage, he conceded that it might not hold much weight since a freshman could possess comparable talent to his.
He came in with the mindset that it would be a three-way battle from the start, and the best player would get what they earn.
The departure of his former coaching staff bolstered Semonza’s decision, but the same factors drew him to compete at Tulane.
“What really drew me to here over some other schools in the portal was the opportunity,” Semonza said. “They had a redshirt freshman last year who had never played, and he ended up beating out a transfer and a guy who was already here who were all older and had taken snaps before, so just having the opportunity with a genuine coaching staff to be able to showcase myself, and at the end of the day the best guy’s going to play.”
The loss of Mensah and the need to start over is frustrating, but the tough choice to name an unknown redshirt freshman as starting quarterback left a legacy that attracts the ultimate competitors.
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