They started at 8 and I did not get there until about 8:20, but I saw the rest. It was typically sloppy like first scrimmages usually are, and the star of the day was Tyjae Spears. He had a remarkable sequence of runs against backup defensive players. There's no way they will keep this guy off the field despite being loaded at running back.

I will have the full report later today.

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Tulane's Wednesday practice ended with a nice run from Corey Dauphine, who took a handoff, made a sharp cut into a hole, a second cut to elude a linebacker and took off downfield. As always, the caveat is the drill was not live, but he looked like he was in midseason form.

Runs dominated the 11-on-11 ending of practice today, making it less interesting to watch because they did not face tackling, but it was another step forward on a typically hot August morning after an unusually mild first week. Darius Bradwell looked good. Dauphine looked good. Amare Jones looked good. What is all meant was hard to discern, but Friday will be a different story when Tulane has its second scrimmage-like session (Monday's workout at the Saints indoor facility was the first).

I counted 10 scholarship players not practicing. Wide receiver Jalen McCleskey missed his third consecutive day with a mild hamstring issue but was walking around fine. Joining him on the sideline were running back Cam Carroll, who went out with a leg issue last week, wide receiver Sorrell Brown, who had no crutch today but was limping significantly, defensive tackle Alfred Thomas, freshman offensive lineman Caleb Thomas, wide receiver Dane Ledford, freshman safety Kanyon Walker, DE/OLB Juan Monjarres, defensive lineman Nick Kubiet and freshman defensive back Levi Williams. Defensive end Davon Wright wore a no-contact jersey.

The first-team offensive line today was the usual suspects at four spots plus Keyshawn McLeod at right guard. Cameron Jackel, the No. 1 guy at right guard following spring drills, worked at right tackle on the second team along with left tackle Timothy Shafter, left guard Stephen Lewerenz, freshman center Sincere Haynesworth and right guard Ben Knutson.

The first-team defensive line you know, but the second-team line had Torri Singletary, Mike Hinton, Jamiran James and Darius Hodges with Wright, Thomas and Monjarres unavailable.

Jaylon Monroe was the starting cornerback opposite Thakarius Keyes, with P.J. Hall and Macon Clark the safeties. Chase Kuerschen rotated in with the first unit as they try different looks and packages.

Despite Tulane's improved depth, most of the starting spot are clear. The only one up for grabs on offense is right guard, with Darius Bradwell the starter at running back and Tyrick James the starter in one-tight end sets.

On defense, Tyrise Barge has worked with the first unit every day at nickelback. Although Clark will play a lot, Kuerschen is the starter at free safety. Monroe has the edge on Willie Langham at one cornerback spot, and the other starters are crystal clear--Patrick Johnson, Jeffery Johnson, De'Andre Williams and Cam Sample up front, Lawrence Graham and Marvin Moody at inside linebacker and P.J. Hall at strong safety. Clark picked off a Keon Howard pass for the only turnover of the day.

Quentin Brown and Malik Lawal got reps as a tandem with the first unit at linebacker when Moody and Graham were rested. Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams were the No. 2 unit. The depth there is better than I anticipated when preseason drills started.

NOTES

They ran an option in 11-on-11 work, so that part of the offense is not totally gone.

The defensive coaches presided over a fumble recovery drill where the ball was placed on the ground and a defender had to fall on it without rolling. Barge rolled, prompting defensive coordinator Jack Curtis to get on his case hard, saying he had told him 10 times not to roll, which can cause the ball to pop out. Drills like that are an example of this staff paying attention to detail.

Justin McMillan is doing everything the way the coaches want it done. Fritz hates it when guys up end up on the ground, and when McMillan stumbled on a run downfield, he immediately popped back on to his feet instead of lying down and delaying the next play. Fritz praised him.

All-time Tulane rushing leader Mewelde Moore attended practice. I did not talk to him, but look for a feature on him at the TulaneGreenWave.com later today or tomorrow.

I ran into frequent practice watcher Derrick Strozier when I arrived, but he was leaving. Wearing a suit for his downtown job, he had had enough of the heat. I wish he had stayed longer because he always gives good insight into individual players when he talks to me.

FRITZ

What makes Patrick Johnson a special player?

"He's just really got a knack for pass rushing. He really knows how to use his body. He's about 245. We talk about doing a hard joint where you have your near foot and your near shoulder delivering a blow to the guy. Part of that is strike timing. He just has a natural timing to it. You see big guys 320 pounds trying to kick him out and he stones them. Sometimes he's not making the tackle but he's the one making the play because he made the hole smaller and made an easy play for guys. He just knows how to coil and uncoil. So much of pass rush, get off is important, but timing with your hands on their hands and reducing your surface area, he just has a real knack for that stuff."

Is he ready for how teams will try to game plan him this year?

"Part of the coach's job is to find a chance for him to get one-on-one and get on a weak pass protector, but we feel like we've got a bunch of good pass rushers. Sometimes the guy who gets the sack didn't do a whole lot. it could have been the scheme or it could have been somebody else forcing him into another guy. Sometimes these guys get these PBUs and the DB gets all the credit and it was really the pressure. The pass was off by a couple of feet. Or sometimes the coverage is really tight and they are the guys that cause the sack because the quarterback had to hold the ball a count or two. It all plays in with each other."

What makes Cam Sample such an impressive player?

"He's a big guy. He's got a rare combination of size and speed and quickness. When we recruited him, going into his senior year he was 230 or 240, but he wasn't a real big guy, but we took a chance on him and now he's 280, 285. When he's hitting on all cylinders and playing really fast, it's a rare combination. There are not a lot of big guys who are quick like that."

Trying to get the legs fresh for Friday's scrimmage, Tulane conducted a light half-practice on Thursday morning at Yulman Stadium that started an hour late and ended at the usual time. Players wore caps instead of helmets and walking through drills they normally do not do. For instance, they had a field-goal block drill without a ball. The rushers lined up where they were supposed to before a fake snap and a fake kick.

Nearly the entire one-hour workout was devoted to special teams. Coaches reminded players they can return long field goals that come up short. They worked on kickoff returns against air, and since this is a full-service site, I wrote down the 11 guys on the kickoff return team. The No. 1 unit has Willie Langham, P.J. Hall, Larry Brooks, Chase Kuerschen, Larry Bryant and KJ Vault as the first line, Tyrick James, Patrick Johnson and Will Wallace as the up backs and Stephon Huderson and Amare Jones as the deep men. I believe Jalen McCleskey is the usual deep back along with Jones. I did not write down the second and third units, but the deep men on the No. 2 group are Chris Joyce and Jaetavian Toles and on the No. 3 group are Tyjae Spears and Jha'Quan Jackson.

The drills had no contact at all but required mental attention. At one point, Willie Fritz hollered out, "This is part of my eval. It's going to be impossible for me to tell him something during a game and have him do it" if he doesn't listen to instructions in practice.

During some of the special teams work, defensive coordinator Jack Curtis worked with the jokers (OLBs). They are Patrick Johnson, Carlos Hatcher, Juan Monjarres and Torri Singletary.

When the workout was over, Fritz praised their attention to detail in the team huddle and then told them,"Leave your hat in your lock boxes. They are for the whole year."

Here is Fritz after the practice:

How much can you get out of these practices?

"A bunch. It's really good. We go over things we don't get a chance to go over once the season starts. We're pretty lucky where the bye weeks fall. We will review some situations that will occur very often in those bye weeks, too. One of them is after four games and the other one's after eight games, so that works pretty good. It's excellent to go over a few things you don't get to go over on a daily basis."

About how many plays will the scrimmage be tomorrow?

"It's going to be fairly similar to the spring game format. We're going to go two quarters and some guys are going to play a lot and some guys are going to play a little."

What is the difference in Justin McMillan as a leader now that he's been here a year?

"He knows the guys. I read somewhere he made a comment he wasn't quite sure what Darnell Mooney's name was when he threw a touchdown pass (to him against Memphis last September). Hopefully he did, but maybe he didn't. He just knows all our players. That's good. I think he's very comfortable with coach Hall. Coach Hall does a fabulous job, not only with the offense, but he's really a good quarterback coach. There's not a lot of them out there. There's guys that act like they're quarterback guys, and if they are they probably can't tie it into a scheme. Or else the guy knows scheme but he doesn't know the proper mechanics of quarterback play. He really does a good job of both."

I will have quotes from Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample a little later.

This report will be shorter but with plenty of quotes. There were a lot of TV people at practice today and I got in too many conversations instead of paying attention to what was happening on the field. I will be back to the thorough report tomorrow.

Jalen McCleskey, who was serenaded with Happy Birthday for turning 22 today at the end of the workout, missed his second consecutive practice after feeling some tightness in his hamstring, so that bears watching. Willie Fritz said yesterday the new Catapult System they were using to monitor some players at practice had indicated McCleskey needed a rest. Also sitting out today were safety P.J. Hall and freshman safety Tyler Judson along with freshman offensive lineman Caleb Thomas. I'm no medical expert, but wide receiver Sorrell Brown was limping quite a bit on his right leg and I don't see him returning to practice any time soon.

When they went to 11-on-11 work in the last 25 minutes of what was the hottest (weather-wise) practice of camp today, they worked on red zone on the opposite end of the field from where I was standing. Tulane finished 10th nationally in red zone scoring percentage last year at 90.9 percent, and although the way the NCAA keeps that stat is wrong--It should be number of points scored per red zone possession because the current method essentialy measures how often a kicker makes medium-to-short field goals--the Wave was pretty effective at reaching the end zone in the red zone under Doug Ruse. The Wave scored 22 touchdowns in 33 red zone series, which was a better percentage than five of the nine teams ahead of it on the NCAA list and better than all but 31 teams in the FCS. The problem was getting to the red zone. Only six FBS teams had fewer red zone possessions per game than Tulane's 2.54.

Will Hall figures to rely on the passing game much more than Ruse did in the red zone. Tulane had only three red zone touchdown passes last season compared to 19 rushing TDs, but there was a lot of quick passing in the red zone drill today. I did not catalog the results, but Justin McMillan threw a nice pass to Amare Jones in the corner of the end zone and Stephon Huderson made a nice cut on his way to the end zone on a running play (again, the drills aren't really live, so judging what would have happened on runs is difficult).

Fritz, Hall. Bradwell and McMillan had group interviews today, but here is my one-on-one with Fritz at the Wilson Center yesterday after everyone returned from the Saints indoor facility:

FRITZ

That was one of the more testy practices under your tenure. What were your thoughts?

"We'll talk to them. I like the guys competing and all that kind of stuff, but sometimes they get to watching TV too much."

How helpful was it to be able to practice indoors in bad weather?

"It was great. I thought for a second the weather was going to be real nice (at noon, when they practiced after being rained out in the morning) and that we blew it, but you just never know around here. I've said a million times we're blessed that the Saints let us go out there and use their place. It's always nice to have 71 degrees indoor with the AC blowing. It allows you to go two-hour-and-15-minute practices and seem like you go an hour-and-a-half."

Has Ben Knutson moved ahead at right guard?

"We're still playing a bunch of guys. We're rolling in Keyshawn McLeod and Cameron Jackel and Ben and maybe next week Sincere Haynesworth might get some reps in there. He's a guard, too. We're just trying to find our best five."

This (wearable) Catapult System that you guys have started. How did you get involved with it?

"Yeah. I went up to a head-coaching retreat and a bunch of people had it and talked about it in great detail and length. It's just another way to have an edge. You kind of guess who's maybe taxed physically, but it's just that. It's just a guess. Now we're able to actually put numbers to it. It gives you a mark as far as explosiveness and distance covered and getting near your top speed throughout practice. We've got a bunch of different guys in positions groups and just seeing where they should be fairly indicative of their position. It's a very expensive system, but we want to know if Darnell Mooney is a little bit more taxed physically in one particular practice than another. That can maybe alleviate some soft-tissue injuries. There was an interesting stat I saw the other day where in the NCAA last year 40 percent of the soft-tissue injuries occurred in the first five days of practice, so we're really doing a good job building up with quality repetitions. It may seem like we're practicing a long time and not doing anything different, but it is different because we're rolling three groups instead of two groups, so guys are not getting as many quality reps in team and seven-on-seven and all those kind of things."

Was the coaching retreat this past offseason?

"Yeah, it was about a month or two ago. Pat Fitzgerald, who we're actually playing next year from Northwestern. We had a bunch of people up there. The guy from Oregon, Mario Cristobal, the head coach at Buffalo, Lance Leipold. It was just a meeting in Chicago. The guy from Toledo was there."

Are you using it on a trial basis?

"No, we bought it full. We bought two deals that probably not many teams in our league have. We got a Rise system that measures sleep. Everybody's got an App on their phone. We can tell how long the guys are sleeping, if they are in sleep debt, when their peak hours are. It tells all sorts of stuff. That's stuff we talk about a lot but now we can actually measure. And this Catapult System is really a GPS tracking device. We spent a lot of money on both of these deals. We'll do it year-round."

How many players are using it?

"For the Catapult we've got 22 guys that are on it. We've got a couple that we put on different guys each day. The Sleep Rise system is for all guys."

Are there specific positions you emphasize with the Catapult?

"Yeah, a little bit more movement guys. We have one offensive lineman and one defensive lineman that we're tracking. We're not tracking the quarterbacks. It's really wideouts, DBs, linebackers, tight ends."

What does it look like?

"It looks like they're wearing a sports bra. We are going to do something, too, where we put it in their shoulder pads. It's kind of hot."

So nobody has complained about having to use it?

"Nope. As a matter of fact the guys are pretty into it. We just hired an assistant strength coach from Oregon, and that's where he really did it. He can interpret the data. We've had a couple of meetings where we've really gone over everything from A to Z, but we don't have time to do that every day. He'll give us the high points or you better watch out for this guy or this guy established a new duration of running 75 percent or higher of his max speed. It's pretty interesting."

Have you changed anything yet based on that data?

'You know, Jalen McCleskey for example didn't practice today because he had hit some high marks and he was feeling it a little bit with his hamstring, so we just backed off. Back in the old days we would not have done that, but with his workload and how his body was feeling, it's a combination of a lot of things. It's also the input from the training staff and all that. We want to be smart with some guys. These guys pull a hamstring and sometimes that injury bothers them for a whole year, so we just want to stay as far away from those as we can."

I will have an update later today on the practice.

Tulane center Christian Montano, a grad transfer from Brown, donated his bone marrow in February of 2018 to a cancer patient, Jim Calhoun, and saved his life. Calhoun will attend the Army game on Oct. 5, and I will have a story in The Advocate about the whole deal before then. It's quite the story. Here's what Montano said about the process when I talked to him on Media Day.

Can you talk about how that all came about?

"It was though an organization called Be The Match. We started doing that at Brown a number of years ago when one of the offensive linemen, Lawrence Rubida, was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma (a type of cancer; Rubida, a former team captain, died in 2005). So we did two events. One in the fall was called Bench Press for Cancer, where you get a sponsor. Then in the spring we do a match and we do the mouth swab drive. Every year we go on the campus and try to get as many people to sign up as we could. So my freshman year I signed up for that and didn't hear anything for three years. Then they called me right before Thanksgiving (of 2017) and said, hey, we think you're a match for someone, would you be willing to come back and do a secondary testing to confirm you're the best available match. I said, yes, of course. I did that right after I got back from Thanksgiving break, and then right before Christmas they said, hey, you are our best person overall to do it. Would you be willing to. I said yes and then Feb. 1 of 2018 I did the donation."

What's happened since then?

"There's a one-year no-contact period. Obviously the patient's still very sick because on the day of the donation they basically radiate their immune system to the point where they have nothing left, so it's kind of their most compromised space. After a year they are supposed to be healthy again if everything went well. So around early February this year I got a phone call from Jim (Calhoun). He said I was your recipient. We just talked for close to a a half-hour, 40 minutes about it."

How old was he?

"He was 43 at the time. He is from upstate New York."

What's happened since the phone call?

"I got to meet him briefly in May when I went back home. They came down and visited our house for a weekend and visited me and my family, but we text probably on a daily basis now, just shoot messages back and forth. It's pretty cool. He's also going to come to our Army game up in New York. It's awesome. It's really cool to get to know him and his family."

What was it like when you first met him?

"It was really emotional when we first met. We've talked about it. I have a second chance at football here, and it was his second chance at life really. If you are over a certain age, he was just over by a matter of months where they no longer consider chemotherapy and radiation a treatment option. Bone marrow transplants are the only option with the cancer he had."

What cancer did he have?

"It's called ALL. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (a type of blood cancer), but it's typically a child's cancer so if you're over 42 years old, your only chance is bone marrow they say."

What is his prognosis now?

'He's been clean (since the transplant). He's had no problems. I think he said it's two years post-transplant, but if there are no complications, they'll consider you cured. He's about halfway there."

What was the effect on you?

"Minimal. There are two ways to do it. One's through your blood. They run it through a machine. I forget the name of them, I think it's allergenic. There's that way through the blood and the other way's through the bone marrow, so I did it through the hip, which is an actual surgical operation. You go to general anaesthesia. They use needles to draw it out from the hip crest. It took about 2 1/2 hours. You wake up pretty sore because they had to really gut it into the bone, but after maybe a week or so you feel pretty normal."

So you were fine by a week?

"I was back in the gym doing light stuff about a week-and-a-half later and I was good to go, about a month I was a hundred percent."

I hear Bul Ajang will be declared a medical casualty, getting the scholarship down to the NCAA maximum of 13.

This is not surprising because there was no other player it could be unless all of my sources were incorrect. Zhang was not leaving and is back with the team after spending the summer with the Chinese national team. Hunter loves Koka's potential as a shot-blocker. The freshmen are all accounted for.

I talked to numerous players and coaches at Media Day but did not have time to transcribe them right away. I will post them as I do it.

LAWRENCE GRAHAM

Coach Fritz said today he did not come here to go 6-6 and reach a bowl. His goals are bigger. Is that the way the whole team feels this year?

"Yeah, since coach Fritz has gotten here we've been on an ascending path. OK, we've reached the goal of a bowl game. Now it's time for something better. We're not going to be satisfied with just another bowl game. We need a conference championship under our belt. We plan to get one and that's a promise."

Do you feel like you're more than just a darkhorse contender in the AAC. Is a championship the expectation?

"Yes, sir, it's a definite expectation. If we fall short, it will be a disappointment. It's not one of these seasons where we just feel like we're good enough to maybe make it. We feel like we deserve it and we've worked hard for it."

With eight returning defensive starters, how confident are you guys as a defense?

"Very confident. Today being the first day of practice we went out there and had our rough patches, but for the most part everything looked pretty smooth and we're a unit. If we play as a unit, we're going to be a good one."

You lost two emotional leaders and good players in Rod Teamer and Donnie Lewis. What's the key to replacing them?

"It's next man up. Rod and Donnie are a big loss. There's losses all over the field, but it's next guys up. The freshmen have to step up, the juniors, the sophomores, everybody has to step up."

What about the talent on the defensive line in front of you?

"Man. Young, fast, hungry, aggressive. Everybody on that line from Pat (Johnson) all the way down to the newest freshman end is a dog, and I think we're going to eat."

PATRICK JOHNSON

Coach Fritz talked about not coming here to go 6-6. What are your expectations?

"The expectations for all of us right now are most definitely win the conference championship game. I don't think our minds are anywhere else this year. We want to have a 10-plus season for wins. We have a really strong core coming back on the D-line. The DBs look really good, and the offense is a whole new squad."

Not one of the 30 voters at AAC Media Days picked you to win the AAC West.

"How I go about life is I don't feel like I have to try to prove people wrong. I feel like when we were 2-5 last year, nobody else trusted in us, and you saw how we ended up--7-6. We only had each other's backs, and that's kind of how we're going to go throughout the year. Nothing comes to my mind besides just being together and not worrying about that."

How different is the offense under Will Hall?

"It's very different. It's very fast. A lot of new things can be thrown at you with a lot of different looks but is also can be different plays from the same look. He's doing a great job. Him and coach Kennedy are working great together and doing a good job."

What about the depth you have on the defensive line?

"Oh man, it's ridiculous. Hopefully it will give me a little bit of rest. Guys like Carlos (Hatcher), Juan (Monjarres), new freshman Armoni (Dixon), a guy like Torri Singletary, too. They are all growing. I know Carlos and Juan put on like 20 pounds each, so it's kind of like they caught up to me. It brings me confidence to know they can do it just like I can."

Opponents are going to game plan for you specifically this year. How much does it help to have the talent around you if that happens?

"Yeah, you can't pick off one guy. If they are trying to pick me off, that's OK. I've got three other guys on the defensive line that are going to punish you just like I would. We all have the same mentality on the D-line, so it really doesn't matter. The training I do in the offseason shouldn't be any different if I was getting double-teamed or single-teamed. Nothing really changes for me."

In the past when Tulane had any success players got satisfied and stopped working as hard. I assume that's not the case with you?

"No, that's not the case at all. That's one thing (Fritz) brought to the table when we first started doing meetings. He said I don't want to talk about being satisfied with anything, I want to win the championship next year, and that's all we've been talked about."

This team has never won back-to-back bowl games ever and hasn't been to back-to-back bowls since 1979 and 80. Are you pretty sure those stats will be put to rest?

"Oh yeah, those are going to be put to rest easy. I'm not going to say easy because you've got to come out and you still have to perform like you should, but I'm not worried about that. We've just going to take care of what we've got to do."

Cam Sample was getting the preseason accolades last year and now he's forgotten.

"That's something I keep joking around about. I tell people y'all keep sleeping on Cam. He was my roommate last year, and I'm telling you he's hungry. He goes about his business. He got hurt versus USF, and as long as he stays healthy, he's going to be a problem. Everyone will know who he is."

I'm pulling double duty for The Advocate today writing a feature on Kuerschen and then heading to the Alario Center for a story on Melvin Frazier's charity hoops event. With no practice tomorrow, I will post something about today's practice then.

Here's a quickie: They had the pads on today so the workout was more physical than the others. The receivers did not have a great day holding on to the ball, but the energy was good. Willie Fritz really likes freshman center Sincere Haynesworth, although he noted his previously perfect snapping was not as sharp with pads on. Haynesworth got reps with the second and third-team groups and appears like a guy who can earn time this year if there is room, either at center and guard.

They blew two whistles at the end of each play, and I'll let Fritz explain what that's about. He's been doing it for a long time.

Here is Fritz from today:

"It was better. We're still learning how to practice. We just have to keep coaching them up. Some of the groups play harder than other groups do. The physicality, we're trying to define what we're looking for. I've been doing this two-whistle deal since 1987. What we're really trying to get is the first whistle is everybody going a million miles an hour, but when that first whistle blows, we're trying to limit the contact then other than trying to strip the ball or tag off with your hand on their hip. Otherwise there's not any more contact going on, but we're accenting running the ball. Some guys are doing a better job of that than others. Some coaches are doing a better job coaching than others."

How have the grad transfers looked?

"Oh, they are awesome kids. I had a new one with Christian Montano today. I was watching him and he had his mouthpiece dangling from his face mask. I ran up to him and I told him you've got to put your mouthpiece in prior to the play. He smiled at me and he had his green mouthpiece in and he said that's my backup mouthpiece, so he's pretty smart. I've never had a guy do that one,. He isn't going to screw up."

Haynesworth is lining up at center right now. What are your early thoughts on him?

"I'm really impressed. He's a big, thick kid. He's got good strength. I've watched some of our guys try to bull rush him in one-on-one pass rush and they have a tough time moving him. He's a guy we might play at guard as well. We're going to keep him there at camp at center for at least another week. He's good. The first couple of days he was a really accurate snapper and then we put the pads on he got a little bit throwing it around, but in high school he was a very accurate snapper, too.'

With the commitment from Rashad Green, Tulane now has 21 "public" commitments. Assuming Tulane signs 22 this year as Coach Fritz has predicted, it would appear we only have one more slot. Of course, that means we need to “attrit” about 5 players from the current roster and who they are is anyone’s guess, though I feel comfortable that the coaching staff has a good handle on it. Frankly, I don’t know the last time, if ever, I thought our coaching staff had a “good handle” on anything. Although Bowden/Rodriguez had a good handle on game day I don’t think they recruited all that well. Anyway…

We’ve signed more offensive and defensive linemen than I expected and If we are to maintain current commitments (and I doubt we’ll retain them all) and sign one more, it would seem to me the major “needs” are 1) a GREAT player (ie. 4 star type) regardless of position followed by 2) a defensive back, 3) a running back, and 4) a wide receiver. Depending on what five players leave “the fold,” the order might change or another position might require further addressing. Since we may have only the one slot remaining, It should be interesting regardless.

I personally like Caleb Anderson (East Feliciana) at DB, though we’ve offered a number of out-of-staters who I’d be thrilled to sign. At running back I’d love to see us sign one of several out-of –staters we’ve offered. At wide receiver, Trenton Grow from West St. John is intriguing at 6’3.” He looks like a “top 25” type player to me. That he has not gotten more interest may suggest an off-field issue, but he looks really good to me on film. Tyler Kirkwood from Holy Cross is another local possibility who could fit nicely, but I also realty like Jacorrei Turner, a 6’4” wide out from Georgia who also plays linebacker.

Anyway, we’re almost full and have an entire season and 4 ½ months to early signing day. Should be fun to follow.

Roll Wave!

Per Kendal Rogers:

NEWS: 1B Justin Campbell, ranked 195th nationally by @prepbaseball in the 2019 class, will not attend @GreenWaveBSB this fall. Instead, he’s headed to @OSUBaseball because of a non-baseball related hiccup. Campbell was an 18th-round selection of the @astros in teh #MLBDraft.

Did we screw ourselves yet again?

Tulane had another two-hour practice Friday morning on day 3 of camp, remaining in shorts. Cameron Carroll, who will have a hard time moving up on the running back depth chart because of the quality of the players in front of him, sat out with a shoulder injury today and had wrapping on the shoulder. With Darius Bradwell, Corey Dauphine, Amare Jones, Stephon Huderson, Tyjae Spears and Ygenio Booker at the position, Carroll has his work cut out for him but will not get a chance to show his worth for the time being. When he walked back to the field after taking a bathroom break, Justin McMillan walked up to him and encouraged him and asked how he was doing.

At right offensive guard, Cameron Jackel was on the first team in 11-on-11 drills. Keyshawn McLeod occupied the spot on Wednesday, with Ben Knutson there on Thursday in a a tight three-way battle for a starting spot. The rest of the first-team offensive line appears set, with Tyler Johnson at left tackle, Corey Dublin at left guard, Christian Montano at center and Joey Claybrook at left tackle. It is too early to judge how effective this group will be --we will get a better picture when they put on full pads and have scrimmages--but Willie Fritz says he is comfortable with seven linemen as starter quality. He has not named which seven.

Freshman Sincere Haynesworth, a 3-star prospect from Texas, worked with the second team at center while Stephen Lewerenz shifted to left guard with that group. Nik Hogan was the left tackle, with Knutson the right guard and McLeod the right tackle as they experiment with different combinations.

The third-team line was walk-on Timothy Shafter at left tackle, Michael Remondet at left guard, Lewerenz at center, walk-on Ben Bratcher at right guard and Colby Orgeron at right tackle.

The depth chart on defense was pretty much the same as the first two days, although Chase Kuerschen told me he is playing free safety rather than strong safety and P.J. Hall is playing strong safety. I'll continue watching to see how that pans out, but Rod Teamer played strong safety last season while Hall was at free safety, and defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told me Wednesday they thought Kuerschen could do a lot of the things Teamer did. Phil Steele, who bases his depth charts on talking with coaches, has Kuerschen at free safety and Hall at strong safety.

Regardless, it looks like Kuerschen will be a starter on opening night, with youngsters Macon Clark and Larry Brooks getting playing time as well.

There were not many big plays in the 11-on-11 work but not many bad plays either. Justin McMillan improvised well on one down, rolling to his left to avoid pressure and hitting tight end Tyrick James for a first down. James has been getting most of the reps with the first unit and is more dynamic as a receiver than Will Wallace, his primary competition. A lot of the plays were runs today, and when they are not allowing full contact, it is hard to judge what is successful and what is not successful.

The wide receiver depth chart is shaking out like this: Darnell Mooney, Jalen McCleskey and Jaetavian Toles are the clear No. 1s. Jacob Robertson and Jorien Vallien are No 2s (part-time wideout and running back Booker was with them today). Freshmen Tyrek Presley and Jha'Quan Jackson and walk-on Ryan Thompson ran with the 3s. Kevin LeDee is practicing in position drills but did not get reps in 11 on 11. Sorrell Brown showed up today with a wrap on his right knee, the opposite of the one he tore last August. Yesterday Fritz said they hoped to get him in uniform by the third week of drills. Dane Ledford sat out today after getting hurt near the end of Thursday's workout, so Tulane remains thin at wideout with tons of questions behind the top three. Robertson made a first-down catch today, but juggled the ball before pinning it against his hip. A little later, he caught a short hitch and accelerated downfield. Of the non-starters, he has made the most plays in the first few days of camp. Jackson had a nice catch on a ball from Keon Howard.

Christian Daniels still does not put a lot of zip on his throws. The pecking order is pretty clear at QB.

When the third-team defense was on the field, end Juan Monjarres was part of the defensive line along with walk-ons Jeremiah Hernandez (De La Salle) and Dane Ziegler (Lakeshore High in Mandeville) and freshman Darius Hodges. The Wave has a lot of depth outside, but that's not a grouping Monjarres wants to be a part of. Davon Wright is the second-team end behind Cam Sample.

Has there been any word on who the new play by play announcer will be?

I have kid duties this week until school starts Monday, so I got to practice about 9 a.m. after dropping him off at his grandmother's. I was there before the start of 11-on-11 work, so I did not miss a whole lot.

The 1s versus 1s began with running back Darius Bradwell catching a swing pass and getting stripped downfield, mimicking a drill the defense had just run for about 15 minutes. I was blocked from seeing who stripped the ball, but the defensive coaches were very pleased. McMillan spiked a ball on the next play when no one got open, something he has done a lot more the first two days than he did last year.

Overall, though, it was not McMillan's sharpest day. He went 1 of 3 on the opening set and was "sacked" by Jeffery Johnson on a good push up the middle. McMillan actually threw the ball after the whistle, and Jaetavian Toles dropped it trying to make a low catch.

On McMillan's next series, Amare Jones made a nice catch near the sideline before McMillan connected with an open receiver deep down the sideline (I believe it was McCleskey, but I was blocked again) for what would have been a touchdown if he had not led him too far to the outside, forcing him to step out of bounds right after he grabbed it. McMillan chided himself for the inaccurate throw. One play later, Thakarius Keyes dropped a would-be interception, and on the next snap, McMillan threw deep down the field in desperation under heavy pressure and Corey Dauphine made a circus catch in traffic.

On his third series, McMillan missed Bradwell with a short throw, had a deep ball in the end zone knocked down on a heck of a play by Jaylon Monroe covering McCleskey and threw behind Darnell Mooney on a crossing route.

McMillan has become much more comfortable as a leader. He had plenty of discussions with his receivers on the sideline in between series, instructing them where they needed to be and taking feedback. Insiders say that's one of the primary differences between him and Jonathan Banks. While Banks tried to make plays, McMillan wants to do whatever is necessary to win. He's clearly much more comfortable with his teammates than he was last year.

Backup Keon Howard threw pretty well, including a deep ball to Jacob Robertson over safety Larry Brooks, but he dropped two perfect shotgun snaps, which simply cannot happen. One play after the ball sailed through his hands the first time, he connected deep with walk-on Ryan Thompson for a touchdown. He then threw deep for Jorien Vallien, but Willie Langham blanketed him (and maybe interfered with him when he got too handsy unnecessarily).

Christian Daniels and Josh Holl also got reps with limited success. Holl found wide-open freshman tight end Keshon Williams for a nice gain in the middle of the field but missed Dauphine on an easy throw and was picked off by freshman safety Tyler Judson on another throw.

Willie Fritz felt much better about today's practice than yesterday's, when he talked with the players about how winded they were halfway through and reminded them that all the summer running they did had not prepared them for the fast pace of Will Hall's offense with helmets on. Today, they appeared more acclimated, which they will need to be on both sides of the ball to keep up.

"You have to be in shape to play at this pace," Fritz reminded them.

NOTES

--Virginia grad transfer Ben Knutson practiced with the first team today at right guard.

--Willie Langham worked with the first team at cornerback at the start of 11 on 11 work, with Monroe getting reps there later. That's one of Tulane's closest position battles.

--Linebacker Quentin Brown left the field and headed to the trainers' room with what appeared to be a left hip issue. Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams got reps with the second unit at linebacker, as did Arizona State grad transfer Malik Lawal a little later.

--Freshman Sincere Hayneworth is the third-team center behind Christian Montano and Stephen Lewerenz.

--Reserve defensive end Nick Kubiet is not practicing with an unspecified injury. He is taking mental reps.

--wide receiver Dane Ledford was wincing in pain at the end of practice with some type of upper-leg injury.

--Colby Orgeron is lining up as a reserve right tackle. Nik Hogan is at left tackle and Michael Remondet is at left guard.

--KJ Vault has missed the first two practices, or at least the second half of them, because of a class conflict.

--Keitha Jones remains with the tight ends, the position he played in the spring, so Tulane has five scholarship guys at the position--Jones, Tyrick James, Will Wallace, Williams and Conner Richardson.

--Ygenio Booker is a definite threat as a receiver wherever he lines up. I predict that Tulane's running backs will match or surpass the 14 receptions they had in 13 games last year in two games this season. I've covered teams that did ran different stuff in games from what they had showed in practice, but Hall is a smart guy and he knows who his best playmakers are.

Posted 1 hour ago. Suggest it’s a local?

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Coach Fritz has commented on our inability to redshirt players over his early years at Tulane. By my count, we redshirted 25 of 68 freshmen during his first three years (37%). With depth at virtually every position and the ability to play four games without losing eligibility, I’m wondering how many of our 20 scholarship freshmen will redshirt this season. I’d be surprised if it’s not at least half (10 or more). Any thoughts?

Roll Wave!!!

Media Day starts at noon today with Willie Fritz speaking at 12:30, but here's a quick report on practice. I arrived around 8:50 when they were still doing individual position work and watched the last hour.

The first play of the first 11-on-11 drill, which pitted the ones against each other, was a handoff to Amare Jones, who figures to be Tulane's breakout star this year. He accelerated through a nice hole. The short series ended with a bullet pass from Justin McMillan to slot receiver Jaetavian Toles on a slant. Toles needs to build on his terrific catch and run for the touchdown that led to the winning 2-point conversion against Navy last year and give the Wave a viable No. 3 receiver to complement Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey.

Keon Howard went in next with the twos against the twos and connected with Jorien Vallien on a deep post. Howard still needs to be more consistent with his throws, but he was on the money with that one. I believe Vallien beat Chris Joyce on the play, but it might have been Willie Langham.

Christian Daniels went in with the threes against the threes and did not do anything notable.

On McMillan's next series, he threw a late floater for Toles and got what he deserved, as Chase Kuerschen roved over for an easy interception. McMillan rebounded with a completion to a leaping McCleskey on the sideline (McCleskey is a natural) and then threw a gorgeous deep ball to Jones in the end zone, leading him perfectly. In the surprise of the day, Jones dropped it and was beside himself. He did five up and downs without any prompting from the coaches after returning to the sideline.

Ygenio Booker, who I kept listing as a receiver in the spring but Fritz referred to as a running back at the end of drills, is going to be involved in the passing game regardless of where he lines up. He was a frequent target today, although he dropped one short pass from Howard he should have caught. New offensive coordinator Will Hall is much more interested in getting the ball to playmakers in space than Doug Ruse was.

The only changes at the top of the depth chart I noticed from the end of spring were Jaylon Monroe lining up at first-team cornerback instead of Willie Langham and redshirt senior Keyshawn McLeod lining up as the first-team right guard instead of Cameron Jackel. The rest of the line was as expected, with Tyler Johnson, Corey Dublin, Christian Montano and Joey Claybrook. Ben Knutson was the second-team right guard. I did not see Jackel taking any reps, although he was in uniform when the team left the field, so he might have a minor injury.

As Fritz promised at the end of spring, a healthy Kuerschen was the first-team strong safety ahead of Macon Clark, the first-teamer in the spring while Kuerschen practiced in a no-contact jersey to protect an injury. Tirise Barge was the starting nickelback, and Larry Bryant ran with the 2s.

Mike Hinton worked with the second-team D, as did Larry Brooks at free safety. Patrick Johnson is wearing No. 7 this year, giving Tulane a pair of single-digit outside rushers with fellow starter Cam Sample switching from 55 to 5.

I am hearing the only player who had eligibility remaining who did not return is obscure walk-on running back James Poche, a Newman product who had zero chance to play. There were a few guys I did not spot today, but they may be injured, had an excused absence or were wearing a different jersey number than listed.

While Kevin Ledee is back, Sorrell Brown is not. I assume he still has not recovered sufficiently from the serious knee injury he sustained in preseason practice last year. All of the other wideouts practiced.

I did not see KJ Vault or Keitha Jones, whom I looked for at linebacker and tight end. I also did not see Cam Carroll, but I might have missed him in the logjam at running back. I will check on their status at practice tomorrow.

I did not notice anyone who was out of shape, but again, I will double-check tomorrow.

Justin Ibieta, the QB commit from Country Day, watched practice. He looks the part of a D1 QB physically.

A scout from the San Francisco 49ers was in attendance and talked to strength and conditioning coach Kyle Speer after practice.

I will post quotes tonight. There were no interviews directly after practice.

Practice starts Wednesday morning, but here are a few tidbits from Phil Steele's preview magazine.

1) He does not have Tulane going to a bowl game, which means he must believe FIU will win the opener. Since he has the Wave third in the West, he has to think it will win at least four conference games plus Missouri State. He has FIU as the best team in CUSA in his power ratings. HIs bowl teams from the AAC are SMU (Frisco Bowl), Houston (Cure Bowl), UCF (Boca Raton Bowl), USF (Gasparilla Bowl), Temple (Military Bowl), Cincinnati (Birmingham Bowl) and Memphis (Cotton Bowl).

2) He ranks Tulane's defensive line 26th best in the nation. The only Group of Five lines rated higher are Marshall at No. 21 and Boise State at 23.

3) He ranks Tulane's running backs No. 27, an impressive number but below Cicinnati (No. 11), UCF (No. 12) and USF (No. 18). LSU is two spots higher at 25.

4) He ranks Tulane's special teams No. 47. The improvement under Fritz in that area has been tremendous.

5) He has Patrick Johnson as the No. 31 DE. Cam Sample is not on the list of 91. His injury last year knocked him off the radar but I expect he will make a huge impact quickly this season.

6) Darnell Mooney is the No. 37 WR. If he gets over the case of the drops he developed last year, he will justify that ranking.

7) Darius Bradwell is the No. 55 RB. That's lower than I would have him.

8) Tulane is 76th out of 130 teams in the power poll, which rates overall talent regardless of schedule. The Wave is behind No. 27 Cincinnati, his pick to win the East (I agree with him), No. 39 UCF, No. 46 Memphis, his pick to win the West (I have the Tigers third) and No. 69 Houston (I'm leaning toward picking the Cougars first in the West, which would be a good thing for Tulane since my last two picks in the West were 2017 Tulsa, which went 1-7, and 2018 Navy, which went 2-6). He has Temple at No. 79 and SMU at No. 81 but expects them to go to bowls because of easier schedules than Tulane.

9) Tulane's other FBS opponents: FIU is No. 64, Auburn is No. 10, Army is No. 67, Tulsa is No. 95, Navy is No. 99 and UConn is No. 129.

10) He expects the AAC to be the best Group of Five conference this year. Surprisingly, he rates the Mountain West ahead of the AAC based on performance last year.

New Commit

As I mentioned in another thread, Ed Daniels and I shared him and had limited time, so I did not get to ask some of the questions I wanted to ask.

What's the message going into fall camp?

"It's really just attention to detail, block out the noise, consistency, get better every day. I'm not a big theme guy."

So you don't think that (big themes) helps you win?

"I don't think so. I've had some good themes, but if you have real good players and good coaches, you'll win a bunch of games. Everybody wants to do what Clemson does with their theme, but eight years ago when they were 8-6, they probably had a theme that year. too."

Do you feel this is a much more talented club than you had last year?

"Yeah, I really do. We were looking at it just the other day. I'm always going over the depth chart and there are some spots we've got three veterans at the position. That's what we didn't have when I first got here. We didn't have very much depth. Most teams you are going to have five to 10 upper-level type players who have a chance to play in the NFL. It's those guys that are 11 to 45 and 50 that win you championships, and we've got a lot more of those guys. If we have an injury at different positions, it won't be a catastrophe. We'll be OK because we have good backups."

You have painstakingly built that depth, right?

"It's like in recruiting. People think you have 22 scholarships and can sign any 22 guys. You have to do it based off who's graduating and each position and how many seniors, juniors, sophomores so you always have that depth. You don't want to sit there and look at a year and all of a sudden you've only got seven offensive linemen. That's the position where I think we've really built the depth up."

Is there an area that concerns you?

"No. I just think it's finding guys that can help you in the kicking game that maybe haven't played a whole lot. We really feel like we signed a talented freshman class. Early in camp the big deal is teaching them how to play in the kicking game because a lot of those guys haven't done it. They played all the snaps on offense, defense or both, of if they were (on special teams), they were a returner. That's all they ever did. So getting those guys schooled up in how to cover punts and kicks and block in the return game, it's hose kinds of things."

Is there a true freshman you think that might (make a huge impact)?

"One thing we do is the first 10 practices everybody's getting reps. We'll roll with three groups and everybody's going to get an opportunity to show us what they can do. The reason why more true freshmen are playing nowadays than in the past is because they are here all summer. They learned the system, they understand the system, they've lifted weights with you and they've done the drills with you. The only thing you can't do is go out there with the football, so practice No. 1 tomorrow will be like practice No. 20 in the old days. We're going to get after it."

How important is sustained success for recruiting?

"Big time. That's all I ever talk about it. I had a couple of recruits in today and I did a presentation to them about Tulane football and all the great players that have played at Tulane and also the great teams that have been here at Tulane. The problem is it just hasn't been done consistently year after year after year. That's what we want to achieve. We want to be a team that does it year after year. If we play in a bowl game this year, it will be the first time since 79 and 80 (to play in back-to-back bowls). That's the only time it's been done in the history of the school., If you win a bowl game this year, it's never been done in the history of the school, so these are things I'm putting out there for our guys. This was the sixth winning season in the last 37 years we had last season, so we have a lo to accomplish. We're just getting started right now."

There's a lot of outside talk that you guys can be a darkhorse contender in the AAC this year. Having tied for the top spot last year, you probably feel like you were legitimate contenders last year. Do you feel good about your chances?

"Yeah, our goal is a conference championship. I've put it out there to our guys and I've told them that's what we want to accomplish. I don't think you can accomplish anything great unless you understand what your goal is and you go work to do it, but that's the goal. We want to compete for AAC championships."

You have a lot of grad transfers. That's been a good thing for you, right?

"It really has. We're getting the guys that are going to fit in here. In the Ivy League you cannot play football if you've already graduated, so we've got a guy from Columbia, Michael Hinton, and we've also got Christian Montano from Brown and then also Ben Knudson from Virginia. That's almost like an Ivy League school, too. Probably the reason we got him is he lived in Slidell when he was a little kid and his sister was a med school graduate from Tulane and went to school there, too, so that probably helped us."

Will he play at guard?

"We'll play him at guard but we'll also play him a little bit at tackle as well."

Hinton played both inside and outside at Columbia. Where will he play for you?

"He's going to play defensive end for us, 4i technique (playing on the center side of the offensive tackle) but also 5 technique (playing on the outside shoulder of the tackle), too."

You already have pretty good depth there, but I assume you don't bring in a grad transfer if you're not sure he can contribute?

"I only bring those guys in if they have an opportunity to play for us. He's going to show us what he can do. Just from what I've watched in the summer, he's fit in very well."

You also have two other grad transfers who are sort of important in Justin McMillan and Jalen McCleskey. How important to this team is being able to get those guys?

"It is big time for Justin, who came in five days before the first game last year. It really took him a while to understand exactly what we were doing. Plus at the previous school I think they'd had two or three different coordinators during the time period he was there, so there was a lot of different terminology to digest. He really understands what we're doing, and then also Jalen McCleskey had 167 catches at his previous school. He's a really good player. I've been very impressed, and he's got a tremendous work ethic as well."

You've only lost one grad transfer starter to another school in Junior Diaz. What does that say?

"This last year I think we are one of the only schools in the country that has not lost a kid to the transfer portal who had eligibility left for us. Jabril Clewis had a year of Division II eligibility, and I think he's playing at St Paul Concordia, but he would have stayed here if he would have had eligibility. I think our kids are happy, and why wouldn't they be. They've got a chance to get this great education and a chance to play a great level of football and they get to do it all in New Orleans, so it's a win-win-win."

Are you a fun guy to play for?

"I think probably the difference between me and maybe other coaches is I'm around our guys all the time. A big advantage for us is where we're standing right now (in the Wilson Center). I've got the academic facility right there, and right around the corner here is where our kids eat every day. Our weight room is right there. Our athletic training facility is over there. Our offices and meeting rooms are right there. I see our guys four or five times a day. There's been other places where the academic support area was across campus and the weight room was some place else. We practice right out here. Everything is so convenient and close and I think it helps us establish relationships quickly."

You are going to have several practices at the Superdome this year. How much does your relationship with the Saints and everything associated with them help you?

"Once again, the Saints are awesome and the people down at the Superdome, Doug Thornton and his staff, are awesome. I always get somebody to ask me how many indoor (facilities) do you have, and I say we've got two. We have to drive to them, but with a police escort it takes us about five minutes to get to the Superdome and it takes about 10 to 15 to get over to the Saints. We're fortunate that we go in the morning and they go in the afternoon and the Bensons are just unbelievable in extending that offer. I was out there watching a practice yesterday and every single person I came in contact with that works for the Saints said, 'anything we can do, tell us, coach.' That's a neat deal."

How about Rob Kelley getting a tryout with the Saints?

"That's great. I was hoping he would get a chance. We ran a little kids' camp a few weeks ago and Rob was there. He had an unbelievable first season with the Redskins (in 2016) and he feels like he's 100-percent healthy. He didn't play for me but he's around all the time. He's a great kid and I hope he gets a good shape and gets an opportunity to make it."

3-star OT Trey Tuggle of Mize High in Mize, Miss. committed today, giving Tulane its third offensive lineman.

He had offers from Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Indiana among others. Sounds like another good get.

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Malik Lawal LBer 6’1 215 from Arizona St. I guess Tulane has room.

I doubt we’ll know much about some of the obvious position battles until the week before the first game but some questions I have for the first week or so of camp:

Who is there? Who is not? Has anyone left the team?

What is the status of last year’s injured?

Anyone sitting out practices? Why? When are they expected to return?

Does anyone look particularly out of shape, thinking primarily offensive and defensive linemen?

Any unexpected position changes?

Roll Wave!!!