The Jon Sumrall era is here

An interview with Tulane's head football coach

December 3rd, 2023. A now 11-2 Tulane football team huddles once more, patiently awaiting their bowl game fate following a crushing defeat on their home field, Yulman Stadium, not even a full 24 hours prior. The impact is significant, the residual hangover freshly looming like blanket coverage on a failed go route. A 26-14 loss at the hands of a dogged Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship Game, additionally snapping the Green Wave’s 10-game win streak. The team settles in, flat screen televisions flicker on - coming to life, an eager, anxious silence is replaced with ESPN’s bowl selection broadcast. For better or worse, their end of the deal is completed. For now, the work is done. Now, with bated breath, they wait. Inhale. Exhale. Control the controllables.

During the broadcast, breaking news would reverberate throughout the college football world. The impossible to avoid, swirling rumors were true. Tulane football Head Coach Willie Fritz would be leaving New Orleans for its Gulf Coast counterpart, as Head Coach of the Houston Cougars. An opening in a role perfectly tailored for his continued professional aspirations as well as his life off the field. Upgraded facilities. Closer to family. An offer he couldn’t, shouldn’t, and didn’t refuse. Later, a source would reveal that Coach Fritz had privately addressed his team on the matter on that fateful Sunday, December 3rd, 2023. 

It was official. After eight seasons, the Willie Fritz era at Tulane University was over.

However, as the old adage goes, ‘when one door closes, another door opens.’ And while the situation for the Tulane Green Wave was most undoubtedly not preferential, it came without shock. Behind the scenes, individuals were performing their due diligence. A short list had been curated. Hushed meetings held behind closed doors at odd hours. Interviews taken. And five days later, on December 8th, 2023, the prestigious university announced that they had their man. Inking a six-year deal, was Troy’s Jon Sumrall. The school’s next head football coach. The 42nd in their program’s history. The vacancy briefly left open by Fritz’s departure was no more. The door left open had been shut with an authoritative slam. Tulane had found their guy. Coach Sumrall on his courtship: “In our profession, things come up and you have an idea something can come up, even ahead of the call. There was a lot of things that made sense for myself professionally and my family. From a professional standpoint, excitement. A commitment to playing high-level football. And there’s a family personal side to it to live in New Orleans. Just excited about what the whole picture would be.”

The introductory press conference followed three days later.

For the previous two seasons, Jon Sumrall, the former Kentucky linebacker turned coaching phenom, had led Troy to a formidable 23-4 record while racking up two back-to-back Sun Belt Conference Championships. The Trojan’s trophy case at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama was boasting some impressive new hardware. Word was getting around that Coach Sumrall was the real deal. Prior to his hire, Troy had experienced three losing seasons. The turnaround was evident. This was a man who simply understood what it took to win. And winning was no longer the goal for the Green Wave, it was the expectation. 

Coach Sumrall has his work cut out for him. The football program he inherited alongside newly hired Athletic Director David Harris was eons ahead of the team he served on as co-defensive coordinator from 2012-2014. While Coach Sumrall cut his teeth under then-Head Coach Curtis Johnson, the Green Wave accumulated a total of 12 wins in 3 seasons. Ultimately going 3-9 in 2014 before Sumrall returned to his native Alabama as the top defensive assistant under Neal Brown at Troy. 

Two seasons later, in 2016, when Willie Fritz officially manned the helm at Yulman, he inherited a Tulane football team that had only seen two bowl games since 1999. Eight seasons later, at 54-47 on the heels of an 11-2 regular season, he departed as the second-most winningest coach in Tulane’s vaunted 130-year history. Encapsulated by an unprecedented run in his final two years, being named American Athletic Conference coach of the year in consecutive seasons while leading Tulane to back-to-back AAC championship games. His tenure was ultimately punctuated by one of the most historic Cotton Bowl comebacks in college football history. Late in the 4th quarter, down 15, Michael Pratt-led Tulane scored 16 unanswered points in the final 4:03 of regulation to upset eventual #1 NFL Draft Pick Caleb Williams and the University of Southern California Trojans. Olive Green and Sky-Blue confetti fell from the rafters onto the stunned crowd of 55,329 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A victory the Tulane faithful will never forget. “One of the great things is the culture of winning has already started. The winning mindset is a part of what they were doing.” 

Many more are on the horizon. 

“Winners Win, and I’m a winner, and we’re going to win.” Jon Sumrall didn’t mince his words upon taking the podium for his introductory presser as Tulane’s head football coach. The moxie demonstrated from the former Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year has permeated the fanbase. The same fanbase that, not even a year ago, was naturally and rightfully dejected upon discovering their beloved head coach was moving on when many believed they were only beginning to scratch the surface of something special in New Orleans. That now feels like another lifetime ago. Coach Sumrall’s message to the fans: “We need them (fans) at our games. We need them to show up and support our team. The crowd, the energy, and the stadium make a difference, and I don’t think there’s a better time to be a fan of and support Tulane football. You got a really good product on the field coaching-wise and player-wise and on top of it all, the experience at Yulman Stadium and on campus. What that experience is like and college football’s comradery and pageantry, it’s important for anyone who has an interest in Tulane to come and watch a really fun football team, not travel far, and do it in a cool venue. We need our fanbase to show up and be supportive.”  

The emotional tides have turned. Make no mistake about it, the Green Wave are already rolling. It’s time for Coach Sumrall to turn that wave into a tsunami. It’s time to win.

The Jon Sumrall era is here.