I am close to finishing transcribing Dannen's 15-minute interview away from the podium today with multiple reporters, but the quote that stood out to me was when he was asked about going after a hotshot offensive coordinator as head coach.

The way he answered it, I think he would prefer a sitting head coach and will go after one and believes he can get one. He will look at coordinators as well, but he mentioned the history of Tulane's peer institutions that made good football hires, and he did it for a reason.

Here's the question and the quote:

The trend right now is to hire young, hotshot offensive coaches. I know you don’t want to put yourself in a box, but is that your thinking?

“They are in my box and veteran head coaches are in my box. Guys that have been head coaches are in my box, so the box is pretty big right now. I’ve looked at the high-end academic institutions nationally and when have they had success in their hirings. Duke hired a head coach (David Cutcliffe). Northwestern hires an alum (Pat Fitzgerald). Vandy has an assistant (former coach James Franklin). That’s an outlier. Stanford hires a head coach (Jim Harbaugh). He came from San Diego, but he had head coaching experience, so you look at those things, one, you’re comparing yourself to what other schools are doing, but two, nationally you have to start looking at your peers as to what works, so I’m weighing both of those. You look at what Tulsa and SMU just did, but there are going to be high flier OCs in this (search), and I’ve already talked to some of them. There are going to be a couple of DCs in, and I’ve already talked to them.”

My latest intel, which comes second hand: the announcement will be this afternoon, and the name will be a surprise, meaning it's not Burke or Patulski.

Take everything with a grain of salt because the info we've received has been all over the place, and do not mention this on any other message board because it's supposed to be confidential.

I do not know who it will be. It's possible it could be Benedict, but the way the news was presented dovetails with the info I got two days ago that there was a mystery candidate with a good chance to get the job, and Benedict is not a mystery candidate.

I talked to Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Doug Elgin today. He's been the league's commissioner for 28 years, and when I got his phone number off the Internet, I did not expect it to actually be his phone number. It was. I left a message on his voice mail, and he called me back an hour later.

It doesn't work that way in the SEC. Or the AAC for that matter, even though Mike Aresco is very accessible.

Here's what Elgin had to say about Dannen:

What are your thoughts on Dannen and the Tulane job?

"Troy has very strong external skills. He's a good fund-raiser. He's very intelligent, works hard and I think he's a very well-liked individual. He blends the toughness you need on the job as an AD with a real good ability to interact with people. He's going to represent Tulane very, very well."

He grew up on a farm in Iowa and has never worked in the south or a big city like New Orleans. Some people have suggested that part of the job may not be a good fit for him. What's your take?

"He runs a very good organization. I just think he's one of the better administrators we've had in our league over time. You know right away when you're in a job like this those individuals who are going to move up the ladder. I hate to put it that way, but his goal was to get to an FBS institution, and it was pretty clear that he had the skills and the experience to make that happen."

How quickly did he make an impression on you when he took over at Northern Iowa?

"Right away. He came to us from an association. He was the executive director of the girl's high school athletic association, so he understood the role of the conference. I'm trying to think what his ties to Bob Bowlsby were. That's a must call for you. They are really tight. Bob had the (the Northern Iowa AD) job before him, two ADs before, and Bob's a graduate (of Northern Iowa). He's just a very personable guy. He had a good work ethic and a really strong business sense. We've had a lot of really good ADs in our league, but he's certainly one of them that stands out. I don't think the private school profile is going to detract from his contributions there in any way, shape or form. He'll be a great fit in New Orleans, and he'll be someone who can make a difference and hire really good coaches and administrators around him."

Did he have to do a lot with a little at Northern Iowa?

"It's all relative in a sense. If you look at their programs, they are a power in women's volleyball and in basketball they beat North Carolina this year. Their football has been playoff caliber, and all of the state institutions, certainly below the big five level, struggle to a certain degree, but he comes from an institution that has been well-managed by the presidents. I think you're going to like him."

Northern Iowa had incredible stability in coaching, so he did not have to make many hires when he was there, but you don't think he will have any problem in that department?

"Absolutely. He was able to keep one of the hottest coaches in the country at Northern Iowa in Ben Jacobsen. And Bobbi Peterson, the volleyball coach, I'm sure has had suitors. There is a really good camaraderie on Troy's staff. From the outside looking in, there's no perfect utopian institution anywhere, but there was a really good momentum and chemistry in the athletic department at Northern Iowa."

I wrote an article for The Advocate today I don't really believe in, but we'll see. Most of the coaches on the list are sitting head coaches, and the last time a sitting head coach took the Tulane job, it was Buddy Teevens of Dartmouth.

The board and the new AD are going to have to do a tremendous job convincing coaches that Tulane truly is committed to winning, and I'm not sure what they will do when they show them the weight room. Otherwise, I don't see a guy from Bowling Green or Northern Illinois coming to Tulane. I also don't think an option coach like Willie Fritz, whom some championed before Curtis Johnson was hired, is a viable choice.

Anyway, here is the incomplete list team Advocate came up with, which comes from people who are not intimately involved in the process but talk to people who are. The reality is without an AD, it's too early to get a good feel.

1) Dino Babers, head coach, Bowling Green

Plus: He has connections to Barbara Burke and Todd Patulski. He's won at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green.

Negative: He ain't coming. Again, I'd love for Tulane to prove me wrong, but the MAC is a proven path to Power Five coaching jobs. Tulane can play him more money, but I don't see him moving anywhere that is not in a major conference.

2) Kendal Briles, Baylor offensive coordinator

Plus: It's much more likely for Tulane to attract a young coordinator who want to take the next step. Briles has a connection to Patulski. How much he does with the offense and how much his dad does at Baylor is open to debate, but man, the numbers are sick.

Negative: See the previous sentence. How much is he benefitting from his dad's presence, like Eric Price did at UTEP (though the numbers were nowhere close, ever, to what Baylor is doing). He also was suspended for the opener this year due to a minor recruiting infraction. I have no idea if that would be relevant or not.

3) Rod Carey, Northern Illinois coach

Plus: He's won two MAC titles in two years and is going for a third next week.

Negative: Same issue as Babers. He'd have to really believe Tulane is a better opportunity than a lower-to mid-level Power Five job. I don't see it happening.

4) Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State coach

Plus: He is having an outstanding year after shepherding App St. from the FCS to the FBS the past three seasons. He's in the prime of his coaching career at age 44--not too young and not too old.

Negative: He's spent 15 of his 18 coaching years at App St. after playing there as a QB. That's a long time at one spot. But he would be an attractive candidate. I watched Appalachian State whip Georgia Southern a few weeks ago and was impressed with the physicality.

5) Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern head coach

Plus: He won big right away at Sam Houston State, an FCS program that was not used to winning big before he arrived, and he has won in both of his years at Georgia Southern, which is new to the FBS.

Negative: He runs the triple option or a hybrid of it. Even though GSU leads the nation in rushing yards, that type of offense will be a hard sell to the people selecting the coach. He's also 55.

6) Rhett Lashley, Auburn offensive coordinator

Plus: He works for one of the best offensive minds that has come around in a long time in Gus Malzahn. Auburn reached the BCS title game in his first year as coordinator in 2013.

Negative: Malzahn is hands on offensively. How much does Lashley really do? Plus, Auburn finished outside the top 80 in offense this year and had struggled to move the ball for two straight years.

This was hardly meant to be a comprehensive list, but it was a group of coaches sources said had been discussed.

What are your thoughts? Not just on this list, but on other candidates you want pursued.

I like Hertz...btw, he is on the b.o.d. of my brother in laws bank in Atlanta. Straight shooter. I like how he is bare knuckles and tells it straight. I also loved how he boldly said, "look, this is the hire of his career....". He put it right out there that his career will be tied to his selection. Now, if he can just bring his basketball coach to Tulane.....

http://theamerican.org/news/2015/12/2/FB_1202154553.aspx

Smart was a no-brainer. The only way he would not have been on the first team would have been if coaches discounted Tulane entirely. He had a monster year with 62 tackles--by far the most for an AAC interior lineman--and 15 tackles for loss.

Marley I'm surprised by, but coaches love his work ethic and all-out hustle. He led Tulane with 82 tackles and 13 stops for loss, but I didn't expect the Wave to get two guys on the first team. Temple had four of the 12 defensive first team selections, and Tulane and Houston tied for second most with two.

No other Tulane player was first team, second team or honorable mention.

The finalists interviewed with Fitts on Sunday. I believe there are three, although others are saying there were five. The decision could come tomorrow but likely will be Wednesday. Time is of the essence.

We know two of them--Burke and Patulski.

The third appears to be a mystery candidate. Maybe it is David Benedict of Auburn, but I haven't heard a peep out of anyone on him in the last week, and he doesn't fit the definition of a mystery candidate. When I talked to Doug Hertz a week ago about the interviews that took place in Atlanta, he said some of The Advocate's information was right and some of it was wrong, both on who had interviewed and in omissions.

I even had someone give me info there was a secret female internal candidate from Tulane in addition to Burke. I'm scratching my head.

By most accounts, Momic was a good guy, but my God, how did they wait the extra year after he followed his only good season (28-4 in 2013) with a dreadful debut in the AAC (5-27)?

Maybe, just maybe, coaches will be held accountable for their record in the future. Tulane had a good volleyball program before Momic's seven-year stint.

The answer is no.

They aren't the right fit. Nutt and Bowden are reminiscent of Bob Toledo--coaches who did a good job at one time but are well past their prime by the time they are interested in Tulane.

Nutt went 6-18 in his last two years at Ole Miss and 1-15 in the SEC, had a bunch of bad guys on his team and engaged in shady recruiting practices, over signing by more than 10 and then stiffing the guys he didn't want as much at the last minute, which is lousy. He had totally lost it by the end of his career and has been out of coaching for four years. I can't imagine him being successful in a return.

Bowden is a little better since he has coached at Akron the last four years, but coaches at the top of their game win big in the MAC. Bowden just had his first winning record at 7-5, and he did not have to play Northern Illinois or Toledo. He lost 59-10 to Bowling Green, and his team did not score more than 12 points against any team that finished .500 or better.

I'm pretty familiar with Bowden as a coach since he was at Auburn when I covered Florida and they played every year. He was terrific in his first two years while coaching Pat Dye's recruits, but he did not recruit well and the talent level went down considerably the longer he stayed. He was a good game day coach and preparer, but his team got worse instead of better and had bottomed out by the time he was forced out by an overzealous booster. I don't see him having the energy to recruit well enough at Tulane to get in position to win.

Frank Wilson isn't going to happen because his resume is too similar to CJ's. Schools never go the same route after the first guy fails.

From College AD.com

http://collegead.com/tulane-university-12/

This is not encouraging news, in my view and I'm pretty sure most others as well.

Well, it's done according to this SI guy.

Login to view embedded media

No surprise there. They were never serious candidates for the AD job even though they got interviews.

It looks like it will come down to Burke and Patulski, which also is no surprise even though I have not gotten it confirmed that Patulski interviewed in Atlanta last week.

The players were in good spirits today in the final full practice of 2015, keeping it light with a drill where offensive linemen ran patterns to the end zone and tried to haul in touchdown catches. The result was predictable, with first Todd Jacquet and then Arturo Uzdavinis getting overthrown.

"They were saying I can do this, I can do this, but I didn't see anything," CJ said. "I didn't see any resemblance of anything. I thought Arturo and Jacquet could do it, but Arturo couldn't catch it and Jacquet couldn't get to the ball."

When Uzdavinis dropped a pass in the end zone, he picked it up and fired it into the stands. An offensive lineman finally scored on a reception, but since it was jersey switch today, I'm not sure who it was.

The tone was light in general.

"I think they're so young and immature, they don't know the difference between it's over and not," CJ said. "It was fun."

At the end of the practice, the seniors were carried off the field by underclassmen, meaning Tanner Lee had to help carry Jordy Joseph and some unlucky defensive linemen had the task of carrying Corey Redwine.

CJ expanded on what he said yesterday about Glen Cuillette playing.

"I want to see him," CJ said. "I just want to see if he can operate the plays. There are a few plays that he can run, and I just want to see him operate them."

Devon Breaux is out with a rib injury, further depleting Tulane's thin and subpar receiving corps. Roderic Teamer is doubtful with a quad strain. That means the Wave will play with two backups against Tulsa's prolific passing attack--likely Taris Shenall at one cornerback spot and Donnie Lewis at safety. I'm not sure because I stopped paying attention this week, missing Monday's practice entirely because I was late arriving with my 5-year old son, who is off for Thanksgiving. I watched the last 10 minutes of practice yesterday and was there for almost an hour today but did not watch closely.

Lazedrick Thompson is available to play.

I'll say this about Tulane's practices, which (excepting this week) I watched more closely than any other year, missing, I believe, only two days since the start of preseason drills. For the most part, the players still like the coaches. They have not tuned them out like Toledo's players did. That means nothing in the grand scheme, but when I read on other message board that CJ has lost the team, it's not an accurate assessment. What I do believe is the players don't think a plan is in place to win, particularly on offense, so when things go wrong in games, their attention span wanders. That, clearly, is a massive problem, but it's typical of any program that is not winning by the fourth year. CJ has the respect of his players. I don't think Toledo did.

Tulane burned all of its timeouts in the first half. Malik Morgan picked up three fouls in the first half and Von Julien had to leave with an injury, so Dabney had to play point guard for long stretches.

Yet, the Wave made the biggest comeback in school history to win 60-59. Here's what Conroy and Dabney had to say.

Tulane Head Coach Ed Conroy on the outcome …

You can’t exaggerate what just happened here. I’m almost speechless. That’s the best comeback I’ve ever seen, especially the way one team looked, and how the other team looked, and how good your opponent was. That’s a team that has had a tremendous amount of success the past couple years and they had us completely on our heels. We were out of timeouts, we were down by 26. We talked a lot the past couple days about how this game was going to show us what we’re made of, and I think they showed everybody what they are made of. We still have a long way to go as far as execution, but the character on this basketball team is unbelievable.


Coach Conroy on the mindset going into the second half…

I think it showed the roadmap going into the second half, but that didn’t mean getting it done was going to be any easier. That was one of the most incredible defensive efforts you will see. You talk about a team that really executes well and we held them to 21 percent in the second half, we dominated on the boards, we did about everything you have to do to beat a team like that. It was a heck of a performance, really one for the ages.


Coach Conroy on the turnaround …

I think there were a lot of guys that had great performances, but Louis Dabney’s toughness was incredible. Think about the fact that you have no timeouts, Malik Morgan had three fouls, and he had to take this thing into his hands as far as breaking their pressure. I think his leadership and calming influence were great. I think everybody kept looking to the next play and keeping a positive attitude. We probably got warned three or four time during the game from the referees telling our bench to sit down. The energy over there was incredible, it spilled onto the floor and everyone that came in played at a high, high level.


Coach Conroy on having no timeouts …

I don’t think I have ever told a team at the 4-minute media timeout of the second half, here is what we are doing to break the press for the rest of the game. Our guys did a fantastic job. We’ve had trouble with execution at times but they rallied. They pulled themselves together. Sometimes you have to throw them in the deep end for them to realize that they can really swim, and our guys did a marvelous job down the stretch.


Senior Louis Dabney on the first half …

We just got down big and the only thing I was trying to preach to the young players was no matter what the score it right now we have to keep fighting because we have a whole other half.


Dabney on his different approach from game one …

Just like I said yesterday, I wanted to be more aggressive and compose my will more. I just wanted to lead the way and show my team I’m here with the.


Dabney on being a leader late for his team (with no timeouts) …

We just had quick huddles and a lot of communication. It tested us, and I think we came through.


Dabney on what this means moving forward …

It just shows us that if we can do this to a team as good as [Stephen F. Austin] who went to the NCAA Tournament the last couple years, it just says that we have a great team.

Tulsa--

They are a private school like Tulane, only not as well regarded academically and roughly half the size. Our endowment, though not great, is almost 50% larger than theirs. They are located in a city slightly larger than New Orleans but whose metropolitan area is somewhat smaller. While some people might prefer the lifestyle of Tulsa, I’d guess more young people would prefer New Orleans. While Tulane must compete with LSU for local recruits, Tulsa must compete with both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in a state that is smaller than Louisiana and not nearly as well known for growing football players. We should have every advantage over them.

We’ve played in the same conference for the past ten years (this is the eleventh), so the P5 bias doesn’t play here. Yet, they’ve gone 82-59 during that time with seven bowl appearances and an eighth likely with a win tonight. We’ve been 36-96 over that same period. Worse, we’ve won only one of the last ten against them. The average score in those ten games was 39-14. That’s pretty bad.

Our chances tonight don’t seem good, but it’s high time our players show some pride and go out strong. If nothing else, those who will return need to put out some “tape” for the incoming staff to review. I’ve been on teams when large numbers of players “gave up” in games and on seasons. It’s not pretty. I don’t know who has or hasn’t “given up” on this team. I don’t like to make those judgements based on TV viewing or anecdotal individual plays. But, now is the time for our guys to “step up.” No, a 4-8 record isn’t much better than 3-9, but the offseason would be better and the view toward “next year” would be brighter.

Roll Wave!!!

In Toledo’s last year, we went 2-9, so the overall talent couldn’t have been great. However, there can be no arguing that Toledo left behind a number of good players that went on to professional careers, or at least signings. These include current NFL’rs, Ryan Griffin, Orleans Darkwa, Carlos Santos, Ryan Grant, and Lorenzo Doss. Jordan Sullen, Derrick Strozier, Sean Donnelly, and Wilson Van Hooser also were signed by NFL teams, though did not survive to make a regular season roster. There may have even been a couple more that I don’t recall. So, regardless, the cupboard, while not full by any means, was not totally “bare” in my opinion. If CJ left after this year, would he leave that many future NFL-level players behind? We simply don’t know. Maybe; Maybe not.

Looking at Toledo’s “leavings” position by position:

For special teams, Toledo left Jonathan Ginsbergh, a senior, as the punter. He had averaged 40.7 yards per punt with one block in three years. CJ replaced him with Picerelli, his freshman signee. Our snapper was another senior, John Edwards, who had taken all “long” snaps for three years (200 punts, 47 FGs, and 90 PATs). He was replaced for one year by Billy Johnson, a graduated player from Georgia who may have been the best snapper in Tulane history. When he left, Lizanich became the “guy.” And, of course, at kicker, he left a junior, Carlos Santos. I don’t think I need go on. Exactly how much better has CJ’s recruiting been on special teams?

On the offense, Toledo left a senior, Ryan Griffin, at QB, but with the departures of Leon Bloun and Nick San Giacomo, only D.J. Ponder returned as a backup; an extreme lack of depth. Today, we have Lee, Powell, and Cuiellette, all recruited by CJ and staff, and a Toledo “walk on,” Jordy Joseph. Most tellingly to me, many fans (though not a majority) think that Jordy should start. So, after four years of the same inadequate coaching that all of our QB’s have received, some of our fan base thinks the Toledo recruit is the best? Not good.

At Running back, Toledo left Orleans Darkwa, Robert Kelley, Dante Butler, Stephen Barnett, and a freshman recruit, Lazedrick Thompson. They were all consensus 3-star recruits and widely heralded on signing by Tulane fans. I like our current backs, but this was a pretty good group also. In fact, when healthy, Thompson and Kelley still receive a lot of snaps.

Our wide receivers when CJ came on board were Ryan Grant, Justyn Shackleford, Xavier Rush, Wilson Van Hooter, Brent Comardelle, Devon Boutte, Brandon LeBeau, and Lorenzo Doss, a freshman recruited by Toledo. The latter two, LeBeau and Doss, were moved to defense (a good move) by Coach Johnson. Today we have possibly the best athlete in the bunch, Breaux, but are our wide receivers better than the group Toledo left behind?

The offensive linemen CJ inherited included Sean Donnelly, Adam Skidmore, Mike Henry, Rio Mares, Eric Jones, Todd Jacquet, Arturo Uzvidinis , an injured Zach Morgan (who missed the year and started in 2013), and Colton Hanson, another freshman recruited by Toledo. I don’t think that was a sterling group but three of those guys start today and guys like Donnelly, Jones, and Morgan might be if they were still around. Are CJ's recruits better as a group?

Our TE’s were Matt Marfisi, Evan Tatford, Steven Suchy ( a walk on who played a lot), and Josh Dunn, who got injured. Not an impressive group by any means. Our current guys are undoubtedly better.

So, taken as a whole, how much better are our offensive recruits under CJ than those Toledo left behind? Any? A little? A lot? Everyone probably has an opinion.

In 2012, Toledo recruits, Aaron Bryant, Austin Jacks, Kenny Welcome, Julius Warmsley, Corey Redwine, and Andre Robinson took most of the snaps across the defensive line. Warmsley may be the only one who would start on today’s team, although, Redwine, still around, actually has. Would any of the others be in the rotation ahead of some of today's backups? Who knows?

Zach Davis, Darryl Farley, Matt Bailey, Dominque Robertson, and Logan Hamilton were the “holdover” linebackers. Robertson was probably the most athletic LB we’ve had in years, but no one in this group would have supplanted Marley. How do they compare to our current crop?

Based on long-time Tulane standards, Sam Scofield, Jordan Sullen, Ryan Travis, Shakiel Smith, Alex Lauricella, and Kyle Davis were a pretty good group. Derrick Strozier was moved to running back in an ill-advised move by DJ, while LeBeau and Doss lined up on defense. Of course Strozier moved back to the DB the next year and made some of the most important plays of the year leading to a bowl. I think this was a pretty good group with some very good tacklers. I wish we still had several of them today and would personally trade our entire current group for that one.

So, how much better is CJ’s recruiting? I don’t think it’s nearly as obvious as some might suggest. And remember, the team CJ fielded his first year, mostly with Toledo recruits, went 2-10 including blow out losses to ULL and ULM, among others. Even if current recruiting is better than that, it’s a mighty low bar.

Along with better coaching, I think we need to recruit better, a lot better!

Roll Wave!!

tonight, fyi. I have no other info

The Goldring donated site was 13 acres, yet was recently announced to be 17 acres. So, we either bought 4 acres or Goldring donated more.

Here is my question. What will go there. I know tennis has been mentioned as well as track. What about bowling and sand volleyball? The big items that I'm really curious about is.

1. IPF? Where will it go. Will on campus or out there?
2. New Wilson Center. Will they gut the one on campus and turn it into meeting rooms and a world class weight room?
3. What about a ladies Softball team? We have the local talent. USL (oops, ULL) has really been a top 20 program for over 20 years. LSU has many really good teams over the past decade. Heck, we could probably play in the SEC I'd needed, not sure if the American has a ladies softball league.
4. Soccer - Just seems like a natural.

I thing they should move the Sports Medicine clinic and tuen it into an Athletics Building, expand it and take some of the Reilly Center. You can't ask for a better location. Tulane then can expand the on campus student medical facility and relocate the Sports Medicine Clinic. This would give us much needed space and also the ability to renovate the Wilson Center and add meeting rooms and weight training areas.

There's a thread on YOGWF about how my contempt for the coaching staff is clear in my Monday morning rewind for the Advocate.

Regardless of what happens with this staff--and it's pretty clear what will happen--that couldn't be further from the truth. As people, I really like CJ and Eric Price and all of the defensive assistants.

I just re-read my story, and it's not like any word I wrote could be disputed by anyone. Seemed like a dispassionate analysis of the facts. SMU has been so horrible defensively all year that it drove home just how bad Tulane's offense is when it had only 104 yards by halftime. The only clear dig was the reference in the Lagniappe section repeating the fact I'd already mentioned about Tulane losing 11 straight season finales, but only three of those are on CJ. He had nothing to do with the losses from 2004 to 2011.

I guess people are so used to the kid-glove treatment Tulane has gotten that they are not used to stuff like that. But I predict most of the people on TheWaveReport.com would say I've been too kind to the staff over the years.

Maybe Jordy will join the all-injured club at QB since he's the only guy who hasn't been hurt yet.

Seriously, that means five seniors will play significant roles in this game--Joseph, Uzdavinis, Monroe, LaFrance and Redwine.

At least Lee will not have people questioning whether his injury has anything to do with his performance this week, which was happening right and left on my twitter feed the past few weeks. FYI, he completed 57.8 percent of his throws through the game where he got hurt and 39.6 percent of his passes in the three games after he got hurt. That's a monumental difference.

Tanner Lee- I didn’t think he looked THAT bad; not good, but not THAT bad. Several drops and failures to hold on to catchable balls hurt his “stats.” A couple “throw aways” due to pressure also didn’t help. Still, he’s not productive by any stretch. If he’s playing in such pain from his finger that he can’t throw, then that’s on CJ. It wouldn’t be the first time as our coach he claimed the player didn’t tell him how bad it was. If the finger isn’t a problem, “NOT THAT BAD” isn’t good enough; we need a new QB and fast. He’s not on the roster now and Abraham (if he chooses to keep his commitment) doesn’t look quite ready to me, though he could in the future.

Jordy Joseph? I’m happy for the young man but really? If Cuiellette can’t see the field in this kind of a mismatch, CJ’s recruiting of Powell and Lee are only minor failures compared to our only QB recruit in the past two years.

Nathan Shienle was replaced by Dias for essentially the entire game at center. He came in to play center when Dias lined up as a blocking back on Kelley’s TD. I’m not sure if he played otherwise, maybe on some special teams. As a junior redshirt, will he be back? Does it matter?

Hilliard and Badie had a number of good runs. In fact, Hilliard had three carries for a total of 83 yards and Badie had four for 60 yards. They each had seven other carries for exactly one yard a piece. Pretty much feast or famine with our line even against a woefully bad SMU defense.

And what happened to “Hilliard is the man?” In our first eight rushing plays we used five different backs. That’s “nuts” in my book.

What’s up with alternating punters? Are we cleverly switching between left-footed and right-footed guys hoping the “spin” of the punt will confuse the returner? Actually, punting wasn’t that bad; I just don’t understand what we’re doing. I doubt anyone on the coaching staff does either.

On DiRocco’s blocked field goal, there is no question there was a lot of pressure up the middle. But I also thought the kick was pretty low.

Defensive line—It was not as good as the last couple of games. A couple runs right up the middle for big gains. Still, the strongest part of our defense.

Love the effort by Thomas and Marley at linebacker, but they fail badly on mis-directions and simply don’t have the speed to cover throws in the flat. Except for Nickerson, neither do our DB’s. SMU lived off throws to running backs and wide receivers at or behind the line of scrimmage. They’d then simply outrun our guys.

On the other hand, we could do nothing to stop their QB or running back when they kept the ball on the ground. They were both simply too athletic and quick for our defense, which, in my opinion, has been grossly overrated all year. It may be better than our offense or our special teams, but it is plain bad, nonetheless. Our DB’s are flat terrible. To think, not long ago we had Sullen, Doss, Scofield, Strozier, Batiste, Monroe, and Devon Walker in the defensive secondary. Compared to what we have now, the downgrade is astounding.

BTW, has anyone noticed, I don’t think CJ had used his “next man up” comment in over two years. Now, it’s all excuses all the time.

But for all the penalties against SMU, the score would have been much worse. They are an undisciplined lot also; just a lot better than ours. Coaching? Players? The problems are overwhelming.

The good news? Maybe even our fool administration will now recognize that CJ must be fired no later than the Monday following the Tulsa game, and sooner would be better. Announce a new AD with no previous Tulane connections the next day and begin a “real” national search for a head coach with some “chops.” It shouldn’t take long, but any delay will hurt badly.

Currently we don’t have the administration, the board, the athletic director, the head coach, the assistant coaches, or the players to be successful. We need a major overhaul.

Hope it starts soon.

Roll Wave!!!

Winwave is in sole possession of first place and in commanding position since he gets to drop a 1-point opening week while my worst week was 3 points.

LSU Law Greenie won last week by a full two points.

7

LSU Law Greenie

5

nyoscar
winwave
Guerry
Wavetime

4

Charlamange8
MNAlum
Rcnut

3

Golfer81
jjstock2005
WaveON

2

kettrade1
DrBox

OVERALL STANDINGS

winwave 57.5
Guerry 56.5
DrBox 54.5
Wavetime 52.5
Rcnut 50.5
MNAlum 46.5
nyoscar 45.5
kettrade1 44.5
jjstock2005 44.5
WaveON 44.5
LSU Law Greenie 43.5
Golfer81 38.5
Charlamange8 33.5 (missed 5 weeks)

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

SMU 2 of 13
Temple 4
Ole Miss 6
Baylor 4
Michigan State 9
Oregon 9
Mississippi State 4
Navy 11

Tulane has to decide what they want to be. If they aspire to be attractive to the SEC or Big 12 at some point in the future then they have to choose wisely now. I think future Big 12 membership is something worth shooting for, and seems more realistic than ever re-joining the SEC, so I'm using that standard here.

Our best possible outcome is that we hire Todd Patulski from Baylor as out next AD, and Burke remains in the COO role. Easiest transition that way and Patulski brings the pedigree and Big 12 connections that Burke lacks.

Patulski was with Baylor from the very dark early days when they were a conference doormat, and he's also been a part of their rise to become a national power in several sports, specifically the major men's sports. Baylor is also a private school, like Tulane. By hiring Patulski we get someone who has walked this path before, and we need that kind of specific experience. Also, as a Big 12 insider he might have a better idea of what the other conference members are looking for if they expand, and he'll have a clear idea of where we need to get to in order to satisfy those criteria.

If Burke remains in her role she can get a head start in assembling a list of head coaching candidates to replace CJ, as well as putting together a search committee, scheduling interviews and doing early vetting of candidates (determining who has interest and who isn't interested). Patulski might need a few weeks to look for a place to live, school for his kids and housing. As well as getting his house on the market. Having someone already at Tulane who can do the prep work for him would be invaluable.

I'm hearing that CJ is telling his coaching peers at other schools that he knows he's getting fired already, it's coming. So getting a jump on the hiring process is paramount for building a staff and recruiting.

Tulane also needs to use this opportunity to create "jock" majors for marginal recruits and devote more money to the program to bring us in line with the top spenders in our conference. Tulane should get full value from the Saints if they're going to let Gayle and Tom interfere so much in our affairs. Hopefully the Bensons and other donors on the board and search committee will put their money where their big fat mouths are and realize that the status quo doesn't work. We have to invest in ourselves and with power comes responsibility. The board members/search committee should step up like they never have before and make sure that the decades of losing comes to an end in the near future.

Per tweet by Scott Kushner: Colton Hanson, Nathan Shienle, Calvin Thomas and Bob Bradley.

The latter two are irrelevant, and the first two won't be missed much on the field, either. Shienle showed promise earlier in his career and Hanson had a couple of good games earlier this year, but the line play has been shockingly bad across the board, and I use the word "shockingly" with the understanding it was never good before this year, either. I've watched every game on replay, and every starting lineman is having an awful year. It goes to more than talent. Clearly, there is a dysfunctional element on the line, and I'm using that phrase understanding that 3-8 teams with six losses by 28 or more points are dysfunctional at a lot of spots. But the offensive line deserves a special category for the way it misses blitz pickups repeatedly and blocks no one repeatedly in between some good plays here and there.

Regardless of who is coaching the team next year, Tulane needs new faces on the entire line with the possible exception of Chris Taylor, who has had a poor season but showed some ability in the past. For whatever reason, it looks like these guys do not want to play football, and that has been true all season long. This is a veteran offensive line, and not one of these guys has improved in his career. It's remarkable, really. Even with bad coaching, self-motivated guys get better.