I went dark for two days because of life obligations and the fact I had no information to provide, either recruiting or team, until getting anything confirmed at practice today. I will have an axpanded report later with projected depth chart at every position, but I have to write my story for NOLA.com first. Before then, here is the basic news and full quotes from Slade Nagle, Sincere Haynesworth and Lance Robinson, who spoke after practice today.

Tulane is choosing to use four scholarship players who are in the portal--Devean Deal, Keith Cooper, Kai Horton and Alex Bauman--even though Deal and Cooper definitely will not return. Slade Nagle explained the philosophy as this is still the 2023 Tulane team, not the 2024 team.

The guys skipping the game are Michael Pratt, Jarius Monroe, Jha'Quan Jackson, Darius Hodges and Prince Pines among seniors preparing for the draft, portal guys Chris Brazzell, DJ Douglas, Kentrell Webb, Kiland Harrison, Carson Haggard and backup kicker Lucas Dunker.

Corey Platt is still around even though he has committed to Houston and cannot play in the bowl game due to his Achilles tear. Lawrence Keys is there but still cannot practice with his ankle injury and likely will not be able to play in the game.

Adonis Friloux was walking in the stands for conditioning purposes. Whether he gets cleared to play in the game remains uncertain even he is healthy enough because he has missed so much time.

I am hearing Tulane hopes to sign 19 players in a recruiting class that is down to nine with the defection of Traville Frederick to Houston. I do not have any details yet on the new guys but hope to obtain it tomorrow morning, but expect some members of Troy's commitment class to end up at Tulane.

Jon Sumrall was at practice today but did not coach. Nick Anderson is volunteering to help out with the linebackers although he is not an official coach.

Here are Tulane's staff assignments for the game:

COACH/OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Slade Nagle, who will call plays from the sideline
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/DB: Rob Greene, who was one of the three DB coaches during the year
SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR: Greg McMahon
OFFENSIVE LINE: Dan Roushar
DEFENSIVE LINE: Gerald Chatman
WIDE RECEIVERS: Colin D'Angelo (was an analyst)
DOGS/LINEBACKERS: Peter Hontas (Rock Hontas's son, also was an analst)
CORNERBACKS: J.J. McCleskey
SAFETIES: Rodney Sheridan (was an analyst)
RUNNING BACKS: Carter Sheridan
TIGHT ENDS: Tyler Spotts-Orgeron

SLADE NAGLE

"Good day today. Good first day out. The guys were excited. Moved around well, and I think it was good. They are looking forward to getting back at it and preparing for the game, so we have a week this week here and then a few practices once we get to D.C. and ready to go."

On his role:

"I’m obviously going to act as the head coach, but I’ll still be the play-caller, just do it from the sideline and we’ll operate as normal Rob Greene will run the defense and coach the safeties. Coach McMahon will run the special teams and we’ll move forward from there."

On if he has decided his future:

"No. I’m looking forward to this bowl game and then moving on from there. We’ll see what happens."

On not going to Houston:

"I am not going to Houston, but right now I’m just coaching this team and we’re going to play on the 27th, and that’s where all of our focus is."

On QB plans:

"Obviously Mike had decided not to play in the game, and we wish Mike the best and love Mike. We’ll play with Kai and Justin Ibieta, and I think you’ll see probably both of them play a little bit."

On if he can say who will start:

"No, not right now. We’ll see how practices goes and we’ll see how it leads up to the game. Obviously Kai has done some good things, but we’ll have a plan with both of those guys."

On if both will play:

"Yeah, both of those guys will play."

On transfer portal guys playing in the game:

"This is the 2023 Tulane football team, and that’s the way we approached it. Prior to there being a permanent head coach hired, some of these guys were making decisions. It’s a different day and age in college football. What we tried to focus on is, hey, look, everybody’s got choices, decisions, but right now for the next week-and-a-half we are going to prepare as the 2023 Green Wave football team and try to go win a bowl game, so that’s where we’re at."

On challenges in doing that:

"Obviously if you are missing a couple of guys here and there, it provides challenges, but we faced a few of those challenges, particularly offensively the last part of the season. Our motto has been go 1-0 and whatever it takes to try and win a game, that’s what we’ll do. I think our guys are ready. I know we’re going there to win. There’s no doubt about it. These guys will prepare great and we’re going to have a good time, but we’ll do whatever we need to do to be in the game and try to win it."

On team handling transitions:

"It’s like anything, Change is a little bit of a shock when it happens, but I think for the most part the guys have handled it well. And look, they are mature guys and they understand the nature of college football and how things happen. I think they understand this is their football team rather than a particular coach. They are a really tight-knit group of guys and I think you’ll see them play hard and play together one more time."

On Haynesworth and leaders:

"It’s always important to have guys other guys look up to and respect. That’s important, and Sincere’s been great. I would expect no different from him, and he’s being a great leader for us and we’re moving forward."

I will post a bowl pick 'em on Thursday. I accomplished the near impossible during Championship Week by being only one of two people to correctly pick Michigan to cover against Iowa yet still finish dead last, not even tying anyone.

Winwave has a comfortable but not insurmountable lead on Wavetime heading into the bowls.


WEEK 13 RESULTS

6

winwave
Wavetime

5

GretnaGreen
ForeverTU

4

MNAlum
roll wave
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
tacklethemanwiththefootball
paliii
Kettrade1

3

WaveON
p8kpev
LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
chigoyboy
diverdo
DrBox

2

Guerry


OVERALL STANDINGS

66.5

winwave

63.5

Wavetime

61.5

chigoyboy

60.5

paliii
ForeverTU

59.5

roll wave

58.5

charlamange8
2DatWuzAGoodDay2

57.5

p8kpev

56.5

WaveON

55.5

DrBox

54.5

LSU Law Greenie

53.5

tacklethemanwiththefootball
Kettrade1

52.5

Guerry

48.5

MNAlum (missed 1 week)

45.5

GretnaGreen (missed 1 week)

44.5

diverdo (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

SMU over Tulane 1 of 18
Washington over Oregon 11
Texas over Oklahoma State 11
Boise State over UNLV 7
Alabama over Georgia 10
Troy over Appalachian State 13
FSU over Louisville 13
Michigan over Iowa 2

So it appears both of their coordinators would be available if Sumrall wants them on Tulane's staff

Saw an X/Twitter post (@TU_alphawave) saying that current players and their parents have revealed that some of the coaches linked to future jobs at UH but are still current Tulane employees have been holding private meetings to recruit our players to go to UH. Corey Platt just announced he's committed to Houston, not suspicious at all.

You have to quarantine the players from people whose interests don't align with Tulane's. If they're rumored to be gone, they need to be prohibited from the property. Sumrall will get his staff together quickly enough. This is the nail in the coffin for Fritz, for me. Loved the guy, never had a bad word to say about him but he posted his own rules and #36 addressed this VERY ISSUE, and the broke it. He's dead to me.

It's conference championship game week, and Tulane is involved, so for the second straight year we get week 13:

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first, neutral sites are designated and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus.

Tulane (-4) SMU
Oregon (-9.5) Washington (Las Vegas)
Texas (-14.5) Oklahoma State (Arlington)
UNLV (+2.5) Boise State
Georgia (-6) Alabama (Atlanta)
Troy (-6.5) Appalachian State
Florida State (-2.5) Louisville (Charlotte)
Michigan (-23) Iowa (Indianapolis)

Has turned down Slick Willie and has joined Sumrall’s staff at Tulane.

A couple weeks ago I promised a baseball update since I watched four innings of one Fall Ball World Series game (or whatever they call it now). Since then, I found out Tulane released its baseball schedule a few days before the AAC Championship Game and I never saw or was given a heads up about it.

I already knew a fair amount about the schedule, such as the fact LSU was not on it even though the series resumed last year with a single game at Turchin and was supposed to be played at Alex Box this year, and that Tulane's longest non-conference road trip for a weekend series would be to Lafayette (over-corrected for the absurd three West Coast trips last year with basically a no-budget travel and a schedule that will not help the at-large chances if the Wave is in that range). But I did not know the specific opponents other than ULL. The schedule link is below.

Baseball sked

My thoughts on each series

1) Northwestern (the real one, not the one in Natchitoches.

Comment: Northwestern bottomed out at 10-40 last year and has not had a winning record since 2000. Yikes.

2) UC Irvine

Comment: Return for the season-opening series last year when Tulane was outscored 15-4 in California, getting shut out twice. UC Irvine did not make a regional.

3) Yale

Comment: Yale finished with an RPI of 239 last year out of 305 D1 teams. It did reach a regional final in Corvalis in 2017.

4) At ULL

Comment: A rematch of the contentious season-opening series in 2021 when Tulane's dugout comportment was embarrassing. Say what you want to say about Jay Uhlman, but he will not let that happen again. The Cajuns made the Coral Gables regional last year.

5) Pepperdine

Comment: Pepperdine still has some cache based on its national championship 32 years ago, but it has not played in a regional since 2015 and has not had a winning record in a full season since 2018. Its RPI was 193 last year.

The AAC has added a conference series this year, meaning one less non-conference series. Tulane plays at Rice, faces UTSA at home, plays at UAB, faces USF at home, plays at FAU and Wichita State, faces Memphis and East Carolina at home and plays at Charlotte.

Charlotte swept through the CUSA tourney and eliminated host school Clemson from an NCAA regional last year before losing to Tennessee. (final RPI: 65)

UTSA was on the fringe of the regional bubble before a slump at the end of the year. (final RPI: 75)

FAU, which has a considerably better tradition that Charlotte or UTSA, has not been to a regional since 2019 (final RPI: 79)

Rice has not been to a regional since 2017 and had not had a winning record since 2018. The days when it dominated Tulane, winning every series and almost every game between the two in CUSA From 2006-14, are no longer relevant.

East Carolina, of course, is the lone wolf at the top of the AAC and the only relevant program nationally for the past three years.

As for the scrimmage, the first inning was a total bummer because graduate transfer Wes Burton blew out it his UCL on the second batter he faced, ending his career. The staff was high on his potential. Teo Banks and Brady Marget did not play, serving as the two captains of the teams.

One team's lineup had ECU transfer Connor Rasmussen leading off and playing second base, freshman Eli Lirette batting second and playing centerfield, Delgado transfer Brock Slaton batting third and playing right field, former high-level recruit Adam Ebling batting fourth and playing third base, grad student and Milwaukee transfer Brad Cline batting fifth and playing shortstop, Reed Kellum batting sixth at DH. The seventh spot was confusing (i.e., I don't understand what I wrote). Freshman Grant Cohn batted eight and was the catcher. I don't understand what I had in the 9th spot, either.

The other team's lineup had Michael Lombardi leading off, Gavin Schulz second, Virginia transfer Colin Tuft third, Jackson Linn at cleanup, Ben Romano fifth, James Agabedis sixth, Tracy Mitchem seventh and I'm not sure about the bottom two spots.

The lattter team was ahead 3-1 when I left, getting all three runs in the fourth inning on a double to the gap by Schulz (who I was told was leading the team in barrels, a bloop double that landed just fair down the right field line from Tuft and a walk and a stolen base by Linn that turned into a Keystone Cops affair when the throw from Cohn skipped into the outfield and Lirette then threw the ball into the dugout trying to get Linn at third. Other than that three-batter stretch, the team was retired in order all four innings by Carter Benbrook, a lefty transfer from UCSB, and a reliever I cannot remember.

The other team scored its run in the second off Billy Price on a leadoff walk by Cline, who advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Cohn's single that could have been fielded by the shortstop but wasn't.

I was not there long enough to make any judgment. The pitching staff is almost all new, which is a good thing, but I have no idea how good it will be. The hitters struck out nine times and I do not have a good read on them, although Banks and Marget would make a huge difference. I had to leave to go to a basketball game, and the four innings took forever primarily because of the injury to Burton.

For those of you (like me) who've been needing recruiting updates...

We lost one yesterday (Jayden Scott), and I've been told that another loss is forthcoming - one which is going to sting on the surface.

No news on adds...just losses.

Hey Guerry...have you found out anything regarding the OV list for this weekend (or last weekend, for that matter)? I've been asking the folks I know, and the information we have has all been pieced together via other sites and Twitter.

Has turned down the opportunity to follow WF to Cougar High.

Interesting.

I talked to Ron Hunter and Sion James before practice today along with WGNO, which explains some redundancy in the questions. Tulane faces Furman (5-5), which won an NCAA tournament game against Virginia last year and was the preseason pick to win the Southern Conference, tomorrow night at 6 in the first of five consecutive home games. It needs to win all of them, and this should be the toughest one.

RON HUNTER

On key:

"What we've got to do is get back to our defensive principles. Even some of the games we've won, we've been getting off to bad starts because our defense hasn't been there. We've got to be great defesnviely against these guys because in transition they like to shoot the 3 and they like to get up and down the floor, so we've just got to be better at that."

On Mississippi State being angry after losing to Southern and Tulane needing that mindset against Furman:

"Yeah, they got beat by Southern, who did a great job against them, and they came out with their backs against the wall, and so we've got to do the same thing. They knew they had to have that win. This is a great game for us. Furman is well coached and we have to make sure we are ready to play because I know they will be."

On biggest defensive breakdowns:

"We just didn't respond in the game. I think there were a lot of different reasons for that, but it didn't matter. They did what they needed to get done and we didn't respond very well to it, and that's what was disappointing. But as I've told the guy, whether we win or lose, you get 24 hours of celebrating or 24 hours to be mad about it. I've always lived by that. We've been on the road for a while now, and now we get the opportunity to come back home and do some damage."

On Furman strengths:

"Their transition and the uniqueness of how they play. You've got to get back in transition, you've got to defend the 3 and you also have to defend their backups and the other things that they do. This is a good, veteran team. We have to make sure we're ready to play, and we just have to put more energy on that defensive end of the floor. That's what we've talked about all week."

On Furman's path to success:

"What he's doing at Furman is kind of what we did at Georgia State, so I understand that. I don't think it matters who they play because their system kind of takes over. It's good for us to play that and then we talked about the success they had. It's a great game and a game we've got to win."

On bouncing back from lopsided loss:

"Maturity. If I had a young team, I'd worry more about it, but we've got some veterans that have been through this before and I've definitely been through it. Sometimes you have those kind of games. It's how you bounce back. That's what I'm interested in seeing."

On five home games in a row:

"Right now I'm not worried about five. I want to win the one in front of us."


SION JAMES

On how can bounce back from Miss St. blowout:

"We just need to focus. Of course they shot it well, but we gave them too many easy opportunities to get going and too many chances to score. We're a better team that we showed. The good news is whether we won or lost, our goal stays the same, which is to win a conference championship and to play and advance in March Madness. The goals are still in front of us."

On lay-ups given up:

"It was just a lack of focus. We've got to do a better job of all-around containing the ball, and that's all five of us whenever the ball's in front of us. We just gave them too many opportunities. We spent too much time in the rotation and too much time giving them easier looks."

On being veteran team making it easier to bounce back:

"Absolutely. Over the years we've experienced lots of highs and lots of lows, but we found ways to bounce back. Like I said, all our goals are still in front of us, and as a veteran team we have that perspective."

On Furman being high-scoring team:

"I anticipate a game where we get back on track defensively, which is what we really need to do. We haven't really hit our stride defensively all year. We've shown flashes and some very good flashes, so we're just working on 40 minutes of good defense and every time we step on the floor we expect that to be the game."

On playing team that won game in March Madness last year:

"We respect every team that comes into the gym. Our goal is to be where they were, which is playing in March Madness and advancing. We respect that they've done that, and we'd like to have the opportunity to do it, too, and just kind of value them for that and understand that we have the opportunity to do what they did."

On five straight home games:

"We had some good travel trips and really enjoyed ourselves, but in this building we're supposed to win. We expect to win the game and we expect to win all five home games, which gets us right back on track."

On where can get better:

"Really it's getting back on track defensively. We've had flashes where we're really guarding, and when we guard we look like a very high-level basketball team. We are a high-level team, and when we really play defense that's when it shows. We want to hold a high-scoring team to less points than us."

This will be updated as warranted. Feel free to add names you see.

Chris Brazzell is entering portal.

Carson Haggard is entering portal

DJ Douglas is entering portal

Kai Horton is entering portal

Kentrell Webb is entering portal

Corey Platt is entering portal

Alex Bauman is entering portal

Kiland Harrison is entering portal

Darius Hodges declared he was forgoing final year to enter NFL draft

I suspect in the next day or so the UH coaches will be gone. The second Deal posted his scholarship offer from Houston and Platt committed to UH that pretty much sealed that deal.

So what does that mean for the bowl game. I would think Roushar would bump up to OC for that game. As far as DC goes McCleskey has been here the longest and probably could do it with input from our new HC. We would need to get Grad assistants or analysts to fill in some of the on the field spots. If Sumrall has some coaches coming who are not currently coaching in bowl games they could do it as well.

Tyler Grubbs was one of the first Tulane players to post on social media he was returning after Willie Fritz left, and he added he was coming back to play in another conference championship game.

Here is what he said after Sumrall's introductory press conference:

On first team meeting with Sumrall:

"So last night with our first team meeting, it was really exciting just to get face-to-face with him. The energy he talks about in there is really evident when you see it in the football atmosphere. The way he feels about football and the way he feels about us, you can already understand it and feel it, and man, it's going to be very exciting to get to develop those relationships with him on and off the field, so I'm excited, and I think all the players in there were very excited."

On having former linebacker as head coach:

"I've never had a head coach who was a linebacker, ever, so him for to be a linebacker, specifically for me I can't ask for more than that. I'm very excited to pick his head about what he's got as a linebacker."

On recruiting other teammates to stay:

"Definitely you kind of bear that role knowing I'm staying here just to keep everybody here. That's what kind of hurts when people say, oh, I'm thinking about leaving and all that. It's like, me and you are like brothers, I love you. I want you to stay here. But you always want the best for them, but that's what you try to do as a leaders and as a great friend to everybody. You try to keep them here, and just to keep those relationships that you had. You try to keep those relationships close to your heart because you go through 365 days of football and waking up at 5 a.m. when you're hurting and you've got problems going on off the field. You always confide in those teammates, so it hurts for some of them to leave, but you just always try to keep them close to you."

On how chaotic last weekend was:

"It was for sure chaotic, and you try to understand certain things that go on within the industry and all that. Yeah, it's tough, especially with what's going on right now and everything, but you just try to stay focused on what game you have going on because at the end of the day, whoever stays and whoever leaves, you have to play that football game and nobody wants to go out there and lose, especially us, so you just get everybody together and say whatever happens, happens, but as long as we stay together as a team, we are going to go out there and win."

On if lead-up to conference championship game was a bit of a distraction:

"I feel like a lot of people have kind of asked that. I didn't feel that at all. Before the game we always have a hype session, and everybody was willing to run through a wall for everybody. I looked at everybody and was look, we're about to go win this game. We unfortunately didn't win the game, but man, none of this was I guess predetermined at that point. I don't think it distracted us at all."

On response to Sumrall being favorable:

"Yeah, the people that he's coached and the people that I knew, everybody says the same thing about him, that his energy, his passion that he has for this game, you can already feel it the way he speaks about it and the way his mannerisms are about this game. There's no way that you wouldn't want to play for this guy, and I just can't wait."

On what his mom says:

"She's my No. 1 fan and she wants the best for me. When I was getting recruited out of the portal, I went on a visit to Troy and I met him and my mom met him and everything. When his name come up, my mom was like, that's literally me (her) in a man version, and she's like, look, if he becomes the head coach there, I don't even have to worry about anything because I know he's going to get after you. She's excited about it."

On if he wants to be captain next season:

"Sometimes it's voted on by coaches but I think it is truly just about what the players are looking for. I would love to be that for the players, but it's not like how you play on the field is going to make you a captain. It's days like this. Everybody's kind of down and everybody's kind of looking for somebody with some energy and positivity. I think these are the times that show what a captain is truly made of, so I hope I'm doing my part and being able to show that for my teammates."

On importance of next few weeks:

"These next few days and few weeks are good for us going into the next season because you want to have energy going into next season. Just the next few days, we don't know what's going to happen, but we can control practice, we can control our workouts and we can control just the conversations in the locker room. If we do that, whatever we do at the bowl game is going to be a very good outcome for us."

On Slade Nagle:

"He's been at our morning run sessions. He's been at our workouts, just being out there showing that he's supporting us just really means a lot for us to have somebody out there that is a familiar face."

On if he knew Fritz might be leaving before he left since he made comment about it being predetermined earlier:

"Yeah, no, I figured after the fact that it was predetermined. It wasn't like, oh, I knew he was leaving before we started the game. It was afterward that we all knew basically."

Sumrall spoke to reporters in a side room after his public press conference:

You've been busy?

"Yeah, I'm busy. I didn't get to sleep much last night and that won't happen for a while."

On reasons for coming to Tulane:

"World-class academic institution with football momentum and a trajectory that's out of this world. We can achieve great things here, and the commitment, right now, the mindset is let's double down and take this thing as far as we can take it."

On when he realized he would be a coach:

"I was somewhat of a player-coach. I wasn't that talented, but I led the team in tackles at Kentucky my junior year. It wasn't because I was the most gifted. I was probably the smartest and maybe the toughest guy on the team, and my teammates all called me "drill sergeant" because I was bringing it every day. As a player I sort of was a coach, and I knew my whole life, I got my degree in finance at the University of Kentucky, but I got my master's in coaching. I went there to be a football coach and I love football. I'm passionate about it. I think I knew I was probably going to become a football coach in my early teenage years, and this is something I've studied the game as a child. My son's 10 and he probably studies it like I did then. I love football. I love competing and I love what it does for people."

On schedule next few weeks:

"The first thing you have to do in recruiting is recruit your own roster in this day and age. That's the biggest challenge number 1, so trying to get as many guys' names and faces and have conversations with the guys that were here last night, and hopefully I'll get to meet with some of those guys the rest of today, but that's the first order of business. Recruits matter. They do. We better go get some good recruits as well, but the guys on our team matter the most to me. We'll manage that. It's going to be a challenge for me for a little while because I'm not going to be bringing anybody from my staff (at Troy) here until their bowl game is done (Dec. 23 in Birmingham vs.Duke), and that may not help me in the short term but I think it will help us in the long term because we're doing it the right way. There will be some guys that are currently on staff that are still here that will be a part of what we're doing right now and have a very good shot of being a part of what we're going to do long term as well, but that will be assessed as we work forward."

On his role in bowl game and what current Tulane staff members will be coaching in that game:

"I don't have that answer in detail yet. We're working through that currently, so not as clean as I would like for it to be, but I'm going to clean it up quick, and it's going to get cleaned up fast. We're working through that. I do want to thank Slade Nagle. I think Slade's doing a nice job of trying to lead in a challenging time of transition, and I'm grateful for what he's doing. I'd like to mention that and acknowledge that because I met with Slade last night at length, and he's trying to do this the right way for the kids here as he has to figure out what's next as well. I will not be coaching in this game that Tulane plays Dec. 27. I have every intention of being there and being a big fan. I want Tulane to win their bowl game. I want Troy to win their bowl game. I will be pulling for everybody I'm associated with these next couple of weeks."

DAVID HARRIS

On choosing Sumrall:

"I outlined it quite a bit in the press conference. We were looking for a proven winner. We wanted someone with experience running a program, being a head coach and being successful, someone who had a connection at some point or fashion to Tulane and New Orleans. This is such a great environment and unique, so getting someone that had that connection would just them be able to hit the ground running and help understand and appreciate the culture and the place and the people and would help expedite us continuing to move forward as a program. Then just having a chance to sit in front of a very impressive person, his passion, his carriage, certainly talking about his relationship with student-athletes, which is close to my heart just based on how I came into the profession, so really hearing his vision for how he connects with each of those young men, how he built a relationship, why it was so difficult for him to leave, why it was so difficult for them that he's leaving, all of that just came together and made him really the right choice for us."

On process last week:

"Sure, we knew we had to move forward quickly, so as soon as Sunday, once it became clear that we were going to have an opening, we were on the phone with a search firm, beginning to talk with the candidates, talking about logistics, talking about how we're going to move and we were in a position to be able to start to have interviews on Tuesday. We were able to talk to people on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and ultimately came to the decision very quickly that Jon was the person that we wanted to hire. Ultimately it happened fast, but one of the reasons it happened fast was because once you really zeroed in on what Jon had done and his interest, looking at his background and everything about him, it really was about zeroing in on him. That helped the process because it wasn't like, hey, we've got a bunch of people and have to narrow this down and could it be this person or could it be this person. For us, especially once we got the chance to meet him, he was the guy, so that helped us to go a long way with that."

On overall list of candidates:

"Not surprised. Pleased that we got interest from the candidates that we did. As coach mentioned, Tulane has become a national brand, so when this position came open, we got interest from a number of different people across the board, so not surprised by that, but certainly pleased it gave us a great pool and gave us a chance to make a great hire."

On hiring his first football coach:

"It's the first time doing it as an athletic director but not my first time doing it because I was in a position at Iowa State where we actually did three of these over the 10 years when I was there, so as my former boss and mentor Jamie Pollard gave me access to all of that process from beginning to end, coming up with candidates to setting things up to asking questions, so it didn't feel like the first time because I was fortunate enough that he gave me that opportunity and I knew what needed to be done and how it needed to be done."

On Sumrall's age and coaching experience as factors:

"Head coaching experience was the main thing because he had been at different institutions and had success at those places, so for us, his experience and where he had been at those places, but especially the last two years as a head coach was certainly prominent for us."

On making huge hire right off the bat in his tenure:

"It's amazing I hadn't really started yet. And I know people were concerned, OK, are you going to be in a position to be available to make this hire and so forth. Opportunities come up when they come up. You can't control that and so even though it was very early in my tenure here, you've got to take advantage of the opportunity when it's presented. You want to make sure you found the right person and that you can bring them to the community as a good fit and have success. The timing of when that happens, whether it's in the beginning or in the middle or toward the end, you don't really control. You just want to be ready when that comes and then be able to make the right choice at that time."

on Sumrall knowing the landscape at Tulane:

"It was important. You could hire someone that had never been here and that person could obviously work out fine, but we felt like it was a bit of an advantage if we could find someone who had the kind of experience and the expertise and success but also had a connection here, we just felt like that we'd be able to hit the ground running in a way that would help push us forward, so given where the program is and the success it's been having, we want to continue to go forward. We don't want to take any steps backward, so we felt like John provided that complete package of head coach experience, having done a lot of the right things in building a program, having success, having integrity, great love and care for his student-athletes, but also the connection to Tulane and the connection to the South and the connection to New Orleans, all of those things put together a package we feel will make a big difference for us."

On immediate turnaround at Troy:

"It was certainly significant. In the previous three years winning five games in each of those years and then winning 12 games and 11 games, that's certainly something that is hard to do, especially in an environment now where student-athletes can transfer out so easily. The fact that he was able to do that was certainly something we thought about and talked about."

On concern of him leaving quickly:

"To me, if he is not staying long, it's because we had success, so for us we want a coach that is successful. You want a coach that's successful and will stay a long time, but you don't control the length of time, so you make the decision to hire the very best person for the position and you try to surround them with resources and people and the things that they need so that they want to stay here a long time and make this their home and really invest in being here, have their family invest in being here. So that's really what we focus on--how can we make sure that bringing him in, we can put the resources around him that he wants to be here for a long time and that he has great success."

On definitive timeline for facilities:

"For some things. like the bubble, everything that I understand is that's going to be done during 2024, so that's happening. The other facilities I don't have an exact timeline, but I know we are very much invested in those things, so we look forward to making that happen as soon as possible."

On what they can do to help Sumrall in short term:

"We'll be listening to him and what he needs and being responsive to that. Because he's already been a head coach, he will have a sense, and he's already told us some of those things, so the big thing that we'll be doing is listening to him and trying to make sure that the things he feels are important are put into place. If they're in place right away, then we'll move to make those things happen as soon as we possibly can."

While you wait for news to break on Fritz's successor, here are interviews I conducted today previewing Tulane's critical basketball game against Mississippi State on Saturday (10:30 a.m., SEC Network):

HUNTER

On having five players averaging in double figures, the same as in his last year at Georgia State in 2018-19:

"It's very similar. A lot of things are very, very similar from that last year. It helps a lot. It doesn't help the other coach because I don't know what you take away, but it's extremely helpful when you have that."

On Mississippi State defense:

"They are a team that recently was one of the top 20 teams in the country. He's built his teams on great defense, and so we know they'll do that, and it's one of the better teams in the SEC, but this is a great opportunity for us. We're playing good basketball, so we're looking forward to it."

On defending Josh Hubbard, a 5-10 freshman guard averaging 16.0 points:

"One of the things I've always done is not so much game plan for what they do but make sure we do what we do at the top of our level. If we play well and play hard, then we'll let the results lie where they are, but I like our team, I like our chances in that regard. We know they are a great opponent, but I think they will have a lot of great respect for us. We're a veteran team, so we're looking forward to playing in State Farm Arena (in Atlanta) and see what happens."

On Forbes making two big plays late against Fordham:

"Yeah, he's getting the best defenders. They are game planning for him every single night, and his last 80 minutes are getting better and better. He's getting healthier and healthier and we're resting him at the times that we can, and meanwhile other guys are getting better. When you start worrying about what Forbes is doing, and the other four players, whether it is Collin (Holloway) or whoever, they'll step up and burn you. It's not always been that way. When Jaylen didn't get 17 the last couple of years, we didn't win a game (in 2020-21, Tulane lost its last 11 games when Forbes scored 16 or less). And Cross is also having a great year and we didn't have him in that game (a win at Fordham on Sunday). It just shows the great versatility of our team."

On Cross status:

"He's definitely back. Right now, knock on wood, everybody's playing Saturday."

On what he has really liked:

"I like our maturity, but we haven't played our best basketball. We're not shooting 3s really well right now. It's getting better, but when we put all the pieces together, we are a dangerous team now, but when you add that element to it, I don't know how you stop us offensively."

On having more than a handful of guys who can finish at the rim with contact:

"We've had a lot of these guys in the program for a long time, and when you've got veterans and they're older and they're stronger, it helps. A couple of years ago we were the youngest team in the country, and now we're one of the oldest. Guys have fully developed now, and they are smart basketball players. When you play in a league when you've had Houston the last few years and got beat up a little bit, contact doesn't bother us."

On leading nation in free throws:

"With some of the changes in the rules, we wanted to take advantage of that and drive the basketball. We've got a lot of great ball-handlers, so we get to the basket fairly easily, so you have to be able to guard at all five positions, and we want to put that pressure on you to do that. There will be days when we don't have to do that and have to find other ways to score, but that's what I love is the versatility of our offense that we've been able to score."

FORBES

On balanced scoring:

"It helps us a lot. Like you just said, there were times when if I didn't score over 15, we would definitely lose the game. Now I don't even have to attempt a shot, I feel like, and we'll win the game. That just shows you the good team we have and the hard work we put in over the summer. It's paying off.

On if huge shots down stretch against Fordham are the start of him getting his scoring rhythm back:

"I hope it's the start of it. If not, as long as we keep winning games, that's all that matters. Last year and the years before we dropped games at this time of the year. Just for us to be winning these games while I'm struggling is big for us."

On what guys were saying to each other when trailed 72-68 to Fordham before going on 15-3 run:

"March 17. Sion said it one time in the huddle and it just stuck with us since. Selection Sunday, any time we get in tough games like that, that's all we try to think about. That was a revenge game for us. They came in our house and beat us last year, so we had to make sure we got that game back."

On Mississippi State:

"It's a pretty good team. SEC school. We're going to be the underdogs of course, but it's nothing new. They are a pretty good defensive team, but we are a pretty good offensive team, too, so it's going to be a pretty good game and we're going to come out there with the win, make sure we go out there and just compete. As long as we compete, we are sure we're the better team."

On hamstring injury:

'I'm fine. The hamstring is not bothering me. It's just a matter of getting back into rhythm, not rushing shots and taking the right shot when the time comes."

On so many finishers at basket making team tough to defend:

"It's very tough because if you look at us on the roster, we don't have a bunch of size. It's just a bunch of small guys who can finish around the rim, so that just lets you know how tough we are."

On importance of this game:

"We feel like it's a must win for us. It would be a big statement win for us. A lot of people look at our schedule and say we had a cake schedule, but every game you play is a hard game no matter where it's at and who you are playing, so it will be a big game for us for sure."

On getting respect:

"We feel like we still don't get a lot of respect that we deserve. Fordham ran a defense leaving Collin wide open, and he took that very personally. It's just a matter of us coming out and earning respect from everybody. That's all."

On Tre' Williams being a point away from becoming sixth guy averaging in double figures:

"I'm pretty sure he will add that, too. Tre has been a pretty good piece for us this year coming from not playing until playing big minuets the last game. Tre's been big for us."

When do practices begin? I assume they must start soon, right? Monday? Guerry, will you be attending practices to determine our 2 Deep on both sides of the ball? Would be interesting to see what coaches are on the field too.

Assuming Sumrall brings the majority of his Troy staff with him, the question is will he retain any of the current coaches and staff? He should keep McMahon and McClesky. McM is an outstanding ST coach and should be retained. McC I was the best recruiter on WF staff. He and Brock Hays have a lot of Louisiana HS connections. Just my thoughts.

While we wait on who our coach will be Monday and beyond I’m left with a few thoughts and questions.

1. The obvious, who will our coach be?

2. Success, can it be repeated?-
Can the next guy, if there is one, be as successful as Willie? If Willie remains at TU, can he lead us to improved play, or even more consistent play going forward? Can the next guy or current, meet the current threshold Willie created and sustained the past years?

3. Will we hire someone who “threads the needles” and accomplishes the above, and leads us being a top G5 perennially? Or will the hire result in us saying these were the glory days and and loose the precious momentum and respect we gained? Do we believe Tulane can make the next great hire, or are filled with doubt from years of PTSD watching Tulane of old?

4. Can Tulane and booster show animal support the way SMU has experienced? This is critical to having the right roster year in and year out.

Guerry,

Any word on what's going on with the AD search. It's been really quiet from both the Tulane side and the media side? Thoughts on potential candidates? When would you expect an announcement from Tulane?

Also, thanks for all you do - it is much appreciated.

Roll Wave!

Hey Guerry-

Tahj Butler just posted on Twitter that he’s taking an OV with us this weekend!

I know things are hectic, but would you be able to get details from the football staff on whether this is true?

Given the news deluge today I’m not sure what’s going on anymore…