It's very easy to tell Tulane's three transfer quarterback prospects apart, with TJ Finley a giant at 6-7, Donovan Leary mid-sided at 6-2 and Kadin Semonza a tiny 5-11. When they began competing for the starting job on a beautiful, cool Tuesday morning to open spring practice, though, it was harder to differentiate them. All of them had good moments and looked better than any of the three quarterbacks last year did on day 1 as the Green Wave adjusted to a new coaching staff. My first impression has Finely and Semonza, the two with starting experience, ahead of Leary, who barely played at Illinois as freshamn, but it it far too early to make any concrete judgments.
Finley threw a strike to Garrett Mmahat soon after I arrived around 8:30 (practice started at 8 and ended at 10) and was very decisive with his decisions. As Jon Sumrall points out, he knows how to win starting jobs, having done it at LSU, Auburn, Texas State and Western Kentucky before making Tulane his fifth and final college stop. He later had back-to-back completions to Shaun Nicholas and Mmahat and was making accurate throws with zip.
Semonza does not have the arm of Finley or Leary, but he already is showing good command of the offense and made all of the necessary throws today. He has been out to prove people wrong who said he as too short to be a starting college QB, and he did a pretty good job in a hopeless situation as the starter for Ball State a year ago under former Tulane assistant Mike Neu, who was on the same Curtis Johnson staff as Sumrall in 2012 and 2013.
Leary, who threw five passes against Eastern Illinois as a freshman at Illinois last year but did not have another attempt for the rest of the year, had one bad patch today when he
threw behind FAU transfer Omari Hayes, causing a deflection that was almost intercepted on the rebound, and hit the turf with a short-hop throw seconds later on a simple quick out. All three believe they can win the job and will be given ample opportunity to prove it this spring in an open competition, with redshirt freshman holdover Kellen Tasby also in the picture but a long shot.
In what is the new reality of the transfer portal era, Jon Sumrall said 33 players who arrived in January practiced today, which is more than a third of the listed spring roster of 97. There are 27 transfers and six early enrollees from the 2025 class, including walk-on long snapper Jason Arrendondo, whom I interviewed over the phone last August when his parents contacted me about his preferred walk-on status. I don't think I ever posted it here for some reason, but I will today because I still have the transcript. I kept a running list of the transfer portal guys in
this thread on the site but never added No. 27, edge rusher Harvey Dyson of Texas Tech, who signed Jan. 12 after making 12 tackles with two sacks and two pass breakups as a third-year sophomore.
Receiver is an unknown quantity for Tulane this spring with the loss of Mario Williams, Dontae Fleming, Yulkeith Brown and tight end Alex Bauman, who accounted for 146 of Tulane's 209 catches last season. One of the most impressive guys out there today was Ty Thompson, who has been converted to tight end from quarterback and looked like a natural in jersey No. 13, albeit in shorts without full pads with no blocking required. As a route-runner and pass-catcher, he looked very smooth, and as you will see in the post-practice interview, he has added 20 pounds to get up to 235 and looks the part. He had a nice TD catch when he split a zone (I missed the number of the QB who threw it) and another good one on a seam route later in practice.
Early on Sidney Mbanasor, who I thought would do more after watching him in camp last fall, outfought cornerback Jaheim Johnson for a touchdown grab and celebrated wildly. The next time they were matched up, Johnson broke up the pass and received big congratulations from DBs coach JJ McCleskey. It was a good mano y mano competition.
FAU transfer wideout Omari Hayes is only 5-9, but an insider tells me he is an elite punt returner, as in hand him the job now. Tulane was very mediocre in that department last year, so he could be a difference maker there. He only had 71 yards on 13 returns a year ago for FAU but did have a 43-yarder mixed in there, but Tulane plans to take full advantage of his skills.
Shaun Nicholas made some plays today but also dropped a pass that turned into an Armani Cargo interception. Maryland tight end transfer LeRon Husbands had an early drop. Freshman running back Javin Gordon is a sturdy 5-10, 200 pounds and looked good. Wideout Bryce Bohanon, one of the only true veterans on the roster, had some good plays, as did Karr freshman Oliver Mitchell.
Justin Ibieta has stuck around as a volunteer coach.
Pro Day, which will not draw nearly as much attention as last year, will be next Tuesday at the Saints indoor practice facility.
Sumrall, the three transfer QBs and Thompson talked after practice. I will have their full quotes later today.
