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Ed Conroy's money quote

I liked his response to my question about guarding against his players thinking they have arrived after beating Memphis.

"To be honest with you I think that was one of the things we fought a little bit at St. John's. Even though we lost against Washington, it was a close, hard-fought game. People around the country saw it because it was on TV. There were a lot of pats on the back like we had accomplished something, yet we didn't even get the win. That was one of the things we talked about in there. Each and every night out in college basketball, as you know, you have to be ready to go. Otherwise you are going to pay a price. These guys have been educated enough now, and they know themselves, that in our league and the sport that we play, you better be ready to go."

Conroy knows the Memphis win won't mean much if Tulane fails to back it up down the road.

Spring Clinics are filling up FAST!!!

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Louisiana Recruiting 2015: What's gone and what's left

With one month to signing day, Louisiana is producing its largest number of FBS Scholarship football players this year than ever before with over 100 kids likely to receive such scholarships and up to 100 more receiving scholarships to FCS schools. Many P5 schools are invading the state for the first time and ULL and LaTech have reoriented their recruiting to concentrate on "in state" high schoolers rather than JC transfers. That makes it even more difficult for the Wave. With a month to go to signing day, I thought I'd look at who's committed and who remains.

According to a consensus view I have tabulated based on the various recruiting sites and Jimmy Smith's ratings, the state was loaded with athletes (WR's and DB's make up roughly half of the top 100 or so players) and woefully short at QB. Below is a listing of the rough order the "consensus" currently places these players at their positions. Of course, some of the recruits, particularly the WR's and DB's, could easily move to the other or another position.

I've also listed the current commitment for each player to the best of my knowledge, though that could change prior to signing day. Regardless, there are still quite a few "high profile" players remaining. Sadly, most have indicated no interest in the Wave, despite having offered over 80% of players shown, and almost all of those in the top groupings at each position. So far, we're simply not getting the "top tier" guys.

Quarterback

1. Jason Pellerin (Ole Miss)

2. Christian Campbell (Georgia Tech)*

3. Dion Ray (ULL)*

* Both Campbell and Ray are great athletes who could (should?) play elsewhere but have been recruited as QB's by their respective college choices.

Running Back

1. Darrius Guice (LSU)

2. David Ducre (LSU)

3. Nicholas Bossette (LSU)

4. Kendall Bussey (Tennessee)

5. Orlando Bradford (Arizona)

6. Nigel Anderson (Tulane)

7. Devin Glenn (Tulane)

8. Will Matthews

9. Myles Washington

Wide Receiver

1. Tyrone Johnson(LSU)

2. Daylon Charlot

3. Kirk Merritt

4. Derrick Dillon (Florida)

5. Jazz Ferguson (LSU)

6. Michael Chigbu (Georgia)

7. Stanley Morgan

8. Deshawn Caper-Smith (Texas A&M)

9. Terrell Chatman (Miami)

10. Brandon Singleton (Georgia Tech)

11. Jalen McCleskey (Oklahoma State)

12. Darrell Clark

13. Rashid Bonnette (Louisiana Tech)

14. Ricky Preston

15. Hunter Register

16. Jaquel Gant

17. Dedrick Shy

18. Javonte Woodard (Louisiana Tech)

19. Ladante Davenport (Louisiana Tech)

20. Kavonte Turpin

21. Darius Williams

22. Andrew Hicks (Tulane)

23. Jamarian Johnson (Louisiana Tech)

24. Houston Robert (Rice)

25. Kamar Greenhouse (ULL)

26. Jarrod Jackson (ULL)

Tight End

1. Bry'Keithen Mouton (LSU)

2. Foster Moreau (LSU)

3. Carlos Robinson (ULL)

4. Mikhail Jacobs (Arkansas State)

5. Michael Dunman

Offensive Line

1. Jerry Tillery (Notre Dame)

2. Adrian McGee (LSU)

3. Garret Thomas (Texas)

4. Cody Ford (Oklahoma)

5. Jozie Milton (South Carolina)

6. Keeyon Smart (Tulane)

7. Aaron Wiltz (North Carolina State)

8. Oshea Dugas (Louisiana Tech)

9. Devin Jackson(ULM)

10. Grant Burguillos

11. Kevin Dotson

12. Cole Prudhomme (ULL)

Defensive End

1. Isaiah Washington (LSU)

2. Jalen Bates (Arizona State)

3. Joe Anderson (Junior College?)

4. Kendall Franklin (Arizona)

5. Marcus Keyes (ULL)

6. Brandon Hayes (Central Florida)

7. Brandon Brinson (Louisiana Tech)

8. Jahmal Tillman (ULM)

Defensive Tackle

1. T.D. Moton (Alabama)

2. Tyrell Jacobs

3. George Lea (Arizona State)

4. Courtney Wallace (Texas Tech)

5. Brian Webb (Tulane)

6. Delmond Landry (ULL)

7. John Washington

8. Louis Wings (Tulane)

9. Fred Brown (Arkansas State)

10. Charlie Matthews (ULM)

Linebacker

1. Arthur McGinnis

2. Bo Wallace (Note Dame)

3. Reggie Walker (Kansas State)

4. Tyrine Ferguson (Nebraska)

5. Kendrick Jackson (Arizona)

6. Joseph Prevost

7. Dwaine Thomas (ULL)

8. Kirkland Louis (Arkansas State)

9. Dante Williams (Louisiana Tech)

10. Nate Link (ULM)

Defensive Back

1. Donte Jackson

2. Xavier Lewis (LSU)

3. Deshawn Raymond (TCU)

4. Kevin Henry (Oklahoma State)

5. Justin Reid

6. Hunter Dale

7. Brandon Scott

8. Shun Brown (Arizona)

9. Alfred Smith (Arizona State)

10. Antonio Parks (Arizona)

11. Kendall Harrison

12. Alonzo Craighton (Minnesota)

13. Henry Black

14. Malik Eugene (Tulane)

15. Chaz Key (Tulane)

16. Xavier Dias (ULL)

17. Aaron Roberson (Louisiana Tech)

18. J'ai Knight (Houston)

19. Darius Black (Tulane)

20. George Brister

21. James Jackson (Louisiana Tech)

22. Jeremie Francis (Tulane)

23. Ethan Rose (ULL)

24. Theron Williams (Louisiana Tech)

25. Tayris Shanell (Tulane)

26. Roderick Teamer (Tulane)

27. Kaylon Beverly

Recruiting Needs

According to reports, we've got 14 commitments thus far, so we probably have about six to go, if not a couple more.

To me, the difference in a 3-9 result and a bowl season this year came down to three primary factors: specialists on Special Teams, quarterback play, and our offensive line. Coaching could be added to that mix but, in my view, that's a topic for a different thread.

Specialists, due to bad snaps, dropped snaps, bad kicks, bad punts, and bad kickoffs, caused us points, gave up points, derailed momentum, and turned possible wins into losses, and losses into "blowouts" of three scores or more (17+ points). With so few scholarships remaining, I don't see CJ bringing in a new kicker, snapper, and punter. They are all his recruits and I'm guessing he's going to stick with them. I wouldn't, but again, we have very few slots remaining. At most, I think he might sign one "specialist" and hope for improvement.

At quarterback, Tanner Lee had a disappointing season, for sure. But I don't see any "new" face out of high school replacing him, at least not one we're likely to sign. Cuiellette could, I suppose; a JC transfer or 5th year senior, upset with lack of playing time, might. But I don't know how many of them are out there and the recent history of Nick Montana at Tulane might dissuade them. So, I think Lee is our guy. That said, I believe we need another QB. We only have three on scholarship and with injuries and the propensity for QB's to "depart" when unhappy, we are only a snap or two away from a bigger problem at this position. On the other hand, if we can't sign a kid with "true" potential to be an FBS-level starting QB, I'd stick with the three we've got and make QB the #1 priority for 2016.

In my opinion, the offensive line made minimal strides this year. We had one really good game against Houston, a few "fair to middling" games, and two horrendous games to end the season. To some of us used to even worse performance on the line, this has translated into "good play." I don't think so. Our QBs get hurried, harassed, and hit all too often. We also have far too many penalties that stall drives. And, though we have had some well blocked plays in the running game this year, I wouldn't be surprised if our RBs led the nation in yards after contact. Time after time, our backs are hit in the backfield only to turn a 3-yard loss into a 4-yard gain, or even a long TD run. That's a credit to the RB's, not the Oline.

We have four Linemen returning who played almost every offensive snap this year. Two of them, Uzvadinis and Shienle, have played almost every snap for two years, and the other two had significant experience in 2013 as well as this year. Hopefully, they will markedly improve, but to this point they are not getting the job done. We have ten other offensive linemen on scholarship and two more committed for 2015. 16 offensive linemen is a big number when you effectively play five guys with only 3-4 others playing spot duty and special teams. Could we sign another one? Maybe, if the coaches know that someone currently on the roster is leaving. But, probably not.

So, what else?

To me, we are woefully short of scholarship wide receivers. I'm OK with the ones we've got, especially the freshmen, who, I thought, played fairly well. But, we've only got four returning when almost every other team has eight on scholarship. Louisiana has a boatload of talented wide outs in the 2015 signing class and we've offered almost all of them. Sadly, the vast number have already committed. We really need a "big" guy to replace Rush, whose loss had more impact, in my opinion, than most realize. We apparently got that in Andrew Hicks, but as a newbie to the WR position, it might take him some time to learn the position. Moreover, unlike Rush, who was a trackman, Hicks does not have great speed. Anyway, we need at least two more for depth, regardless. I think this is the one place that a couple more kids straight out of high school could really help our depth.

Our next biggest need to me is defensive end. When Gilbert went out earlier this year, we had no answer. I'm not sure what that answer will be next year either. The remaining Toledo recruits clearly are not and the young guys at the position haven't developed sufficiently. Regardless, with Gilbert, Robinson, and Bryant graduating and LaFrance to be a senior, I think we need a couple of DE's right now. We have no commits to this point.

After starters, Smart and Wilson, our returning DT's totaled two tackles this season. Calvin Thomas and Eldrick Washington have not progressed as I would like and I have no idea the status of Eric Bell. Hopefully, Thomas can return to his 2012 form and Braynton Edwards needs to come back next fall in shape to contribute. While we have two promising commitments at the position we remain very short of depth at the position. Another DT would be good.

At Tight End, I and most others are pretty happy with our "pass-catching" tight ends in Charles Jones and Trey Scott. Kendall Aucoin, possibly the more "heralded" freshman will be back after a redshirt year and Sydie London, who briefly looked like "the answer" at the position a couple years ago has retreated to the "DNP" statistic. We probably won't recruit any more tight ends this year but I think the loss of Marfisi, clearly our best blocker at the position, will be missed. I'd love to see a big, hard-nosed, blocking tight end signed, but don't expect it, though we recently offered Jesuit's 6'7" tight end, Foster Moreau.

My view of our running back situation is similar. Badie, Hilliard, and Thompson (pick your order) will all be back and give us a solid situation at running back. Rounds should return and Kelley might also return. If Kelley comes back, he'll probably fill Butler's position at fullback and part-time running back. And Medina is apparently being groomed as a "true" fullback. The two freshmen commits (Anderson and Glenn) bring an every down back and a "Sproles-like" player that CJ keeps looking for. I'd love to see a big (245#) bruising fullback, but I'd guess we're through at RB.

Linebacker looks to be in good shape, especially since we play only two at a time on most downs. Marley and Williams seem to have taken over as the starters with Thomas a good backup. Marbley, Harris, and Fleury all got some playing time and two redshirts, Kennedy and Bowie add some depth. That's probably enough for this "go around," though a "top flight" recruit would be welcome.

And, while we'll be losing three major contributors in the defensive backfield (Scofield, LeBeau, and Nixon), I doubt we'll sign any more DB's than we already have on board or committed. Leonard Davis and a return to health by Jarod Franklin and Richard Allen make them the most likely replacements for the departures, but Carthon (a special teams cover guy), Townsend, and Cooper have some experience as well. Add to that three redshirt freshmen coming back and seven committed DB's and it's hard to believe we'll go for more. I know we play five and six DB's at a time but I would think 18 of them should be enough. At least half of the incoming frosh will probably redshirt, though a couple could compete for significant time. And, it wouldn't surprise me to see one or more move to WR.

Most incoming freshmen will probably redshirt, gain size, strength, and knowledge of our playbook and start to make contributions as redshirt freshmen. But, at this point, CJ and staff can't afford to make many mistakes. Looking to next year, and depending on additional attrition, we will only have eight seniors on scholarship (including Kelley). Of course, we'll have another nine redshirt juniors include five guys who have played very little. Several will probably forego their final year of eligibility. Nonetheless, it could be another relatively small class (20 or less).

But, that's next year's problem. This year, we have more needs than openings.



Roll Wave!!!

Bob Toledo

If anyone caught the last three play calls of Bob Toledo's coaching career, they were disastrous.

With San Diego State in field goal range against Navy and trailing by 1, he dialed up two lateral plays that went out of bounds and stopped the clock with minimal gains instead of running up the middle like almost any other coach would do and like what he normally does all game anyway. Then, on third down, he had his QB, who had barely completed a third of his passes, roll out and try to throw. He had to throw it away, leaving Navy with timeouts and 24 seconds left on the clock.

I've never seen anything like it. Any other coordinator would have run the ball up the middle three times, forced Navy to use the two timeouts it had left and then kicked a chip shot field goal if his team had not already scored a touchdown.

Fittingly, kicking from the left hash, and after getting frozen by one timeout Navy should not have still had, San Diego's kicker missed wide right.

It was buffoonery. Anyone surprised?

Change in basketball attendance announcement policy

For some reason, earlier this year Tulane was listing the actual attendance for men's basketball rather than tickets distributed, and the numbers were predictably awful--731 v. Miss Valley St, 463 v. SUNO and 556 v. Southern.

Last night, the crowd was very small again with all of the students gone for Christmas break, but the attendance was listed as slightly more than 1,000. That's because they went back to tickets distributed, the way they always had done it in the past.

I have not been able to find out why they were listing actual attendance earlier this year--honest mistake, someone out to undermine Conroy, etc.--but it was interesting to see the real numbers.

With Tulane off to an 8-1 start and soon to be 9-1 after beating Jackson State on Friday afternoon, the four-game stretch at Washington, v. St. Johns, at East Carolina and at Memphis will determine whether the crowds get bigger. Washington and St. John's are ranked right now, and Tulane has not beaten a ranked team since Dec. 22, 1999 v. North Carolina State, exactly 15 years to the date before the Washington game. That's a span of 26 losses, all but one by double figures.

Checking up on Tulane's hoops opponents

Tulane is 7-1 and almost certainly will be 9-1 before a four-game stretch away from home (at Washington Dec. 22 St. John's in New York Dec. 28) at East Carolina Dec. 31 and at Memphis Jan. 3 will give us a much better read on the team's prospects.

Here's a rundown of the opponents so far:

1) Wake Forest (4-5)

Result: L 71-49

Analysis: It was a terrible performance, but the Wave will never go 1 for 20 from 3-point range again. A lot of those were good looks but the players were jittery and rushing the shots without squaring up. Wake lost to Arkansas 83-53 two days later, fell at home to Iona two days after that and is on a three-game losing streak right now, a skid that started with a 72-65 home loss to Delaware State, which had lost to Iona 126-76.

2) Mississippi Valley State (1-7)

Result: W 100-61

Analysis: Nothing much to see here. Miss Valley also lost 116-65 to Indiana and 106-53 to TCU, but at least Tulane hit 10 for the first time in the Ed Conroy era, proving it could hit shots in bunches. For what it's worth, Miss Valley has come closer against everyone else but TCU and Indiana.

3) SUNO

Result: W 89-45

Analysis: Nope. Nothing to say. SUNO should not be on the schedule. Ever. And if you check SUNO's website, the game isn't on the schedule.

4) Southern (2-7)

Result: W 74-59

Analysis: Not impressive. Southern's only wins have come against non D-! schools Dillard and LSU-Alexandria. Since losing to La Tech 85-76 in their opener, the Jaguars have failed to score 60 in regulation against any D1 school, losing 69-38 to Ole Miss, 66-48 to Middle Tennessee, 54-43 to Eastern Illinois and 85-57 to Minnesota.

5) Southeastern Louisiana (2-7)

Result: W 71-61

Analysis: Do the math, and that's a cumulative 5-22 record for Tulane's first three D1 victims. This would have been a blowout if SLU had not been uncharacteristically while hot from 3-point range in the first half. Tulane played better than the 10-point margin indicated. SLU followed up with a reasonably respectable 76-57 loss to Gonzaga, which looks like a legitimate top 10 team, but the Lions lost to Southeast Missouri 64-59 the last time out.

6) Tennessee Tech (5-3)

Result: W 73-68

Analysis: I missed the game, but those in attendance said Tulane was impressive despite the close score. The Wave led almost all the way but fell behind by 1 with less than four minutes left before taking over at the end. Tennessee Tech had a strange home-and-home split with SLU with a 19-point victory followed by a 21-point loss two days later. It also has beaten two non-D1 schools, with its only other legit victories against Chattanooga and Lipscomb. USC, which is struggling beat Tenn Tech 70-58.

7) At Loyola Chicago (5-2)

Result: W 83-70

Analysis: This was Tulane's best win up to that point by any metric. Playing its first road game, the Wave never trailed and was comfortably ahead of the entire second half. Is Loyola any good? Probably not, but it has won three consecutive road games, which is not easy on any level, beating UTSA by 14, Kent State by 8 and Illinois Chicago by 10. It got smashed by Michigan State 87-52.

8) Mississippi State (5-2)

Result: W 59-54

Analysis: Let's not go overboard about a victory over a team that has lost 18 consecutive times on an opponent's home court, but Tulane looked poised and confident while outrebounding a bigger team. Those are good signs, as the return to shooting form of Jay Hook, a real weapon. The pieces appear to mesh well this year, which never has been true in Conroy's tenure. Mississippi State beat St. Louis 76-50 on a neutral floor, but the Billikins (5-4) appear nothing like the round of 32 NCAA Tournament team from a year ago. Miss St. also beat Utah State, a traditionally strong program, but Utah State is on a four-game losing streak. The Bulldogs' other loss was to undefeated TCU by 9 on a neutral floor.

The next two opponents are Savannah State, which is 3-7, coming off back-to-back losses to Indiana and Miami by scores of 95-49 and 70-39 and will have faced Kansas State two days before facing the Wave, and Jackson State, which is 1-7.

In other words, It's anyone's goes how Tulane will fare when the schedule gets tougher. No AAC team received a vote in the most recent AP poll, so the league is not as good as it was supposed to be. Washington (undefeated and No. 17) and St. John's (6-1 and No. 24 with wins over Minnesota and Syracuse) are the two highest rated teams on the schedule.

Lorenzo Doss entering NFL draft

Here is Doss's tweet from earlier tonight.



2h2 hours ago

After talking with my family, friends, and coaches, I have decided to forgo my senior season and enter the 2015 NFL Draft.
Scott Kushner has a story up in The Advocate. Doss has not signed with an agent but has no plans to return to Tulane.

I didn't think it was possible leading up to the final home game, but when I talked to Doss the Tuesday before Temple I could tell by the way he answered questions that he was seriously considering it.

My track record when covering Florida was poor when judging when guys should stay and when they should go, so my two cents aren't worth much here, but I am surprised.

Doss, the first Tulane true junior to leave for the NFL (if he does not have a change of heart), has played in 37 games and made 15 interceptions, including a final one against Temple. He holds the Tulane record for interception return yardage (271) and is second the career interceptions list to Paul Ellis, who had 18 from 1969 to 1971.

He did not live up to preseason expectations as a junior, though, making a career-low three interceptions after having seven in 2013 and five in 2012. He also got beaten for big plays several times as opponents started shying away from redshirt freshman Parry Nickerson, who had six interceptions.

Doss has a very good attitude and had agents coming to Tulane practices regularly this year, but whether he is fast enough or talented enough to become a high draft pick remains to be seen.

EDIT: After reading Tammy's story on Nola.com, I double-checked and realized Elpheage also left as a true junior. I was in Florida then, but for some reason I always assumed he was a redshirt junior. Been operating under that mistake all year when asked about the prospect of Doss turning pro, saying to my knowledge no third-year Tulane player had ever done it. Wrong.

This post was edited on 12/11 12:48 PM by Guerry Smith

Jon Sumrall leaves to become DC at Troy

It's a promotion, obviously, and Troy has a history of success before bottoming out in recent years, but I'm not sure this is a great move for him. I wonder how he felt about being linebackers coach after being the defensive line coach the previous two years.

It's a huge loss for me because Sumrall was a great quote. It probably will be a significant loss for Tulane, too, but I never got a real feel for which coach was doing what on this staff. I didn't feel like they had a handle on the linebacker rotation at the beginning of the year, and that hurt the defense early.

What are your thoughts?

Scofield, Doss make second-team All-AAC

The coaches' awards were announced today, and Sam Scofield and Lorenzo Doss earned second-team spots.

Nico Marley and Parry Nickerson were two of eight players league-wide to get honorable mention.

I probably would have switched Nickerson and Doss, but that's impressive for Nickerson to get any honor since he's only a redshirt freshman and no one knew who he was at the start of the season.

The offense was shut out, as it should have been.

I like Tulane's defense a lot for next year, but the nagging concern is what it will do without Scofield. He saved guys' butts numerous times with tackles this year, and his two fourth-down stops against East Carolina were terrific. I'm not sure I see anyone on the roster who can do what he did.

Recruiting: How many slots left for 2015?

With the season now over, we are less than two months away from football signing day, 2015. And recruiting will be the focus of football operations and fan interest for the next several weeks. So, how many people can we sign? After Van Hooser was medically disqualified and Boutte left the team, I believe we had 83 players on scholarship. This includes Anthony Taylor, who may be still on a track scholarship. I simply don't know. It also includes Rob Kelley who may or may not be back due to academics.

Sixteen seniors are graduating, so we should have at least 18 slots available for 2015 at this point. Depending on the status of Taylor and Kelley, that could add two more. We have several more players entering their third and even fourth years at Tulane with hardly any playing time. Will they stick around to ride the bench another year? Who knows? Finally, we are almost assured of losing one or more players to academics, injury, or simply a desire to transfer for a myriad of reason. Historically, most of these happen after spring practice, during the summer, or just prior to fall camp. And we don't have any history of "betting on the come" regarding possible attrition. Regardless, I'd guess we have about 20 openings for 2015.

Of possible importance, I think we would be allowed to have up to three recruits join the team for the second semester this year to participate in the spring. That's a big advantage for a young guy but I've heard nothing to suggest any of our current commits are planning on an early arrival.

Roll Wave!!!
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