This was Fritz in a zoom call with reporters from New Orleans and out West from Monday before Tulane flew to Boise:

"I asked all our guys when we got selected to play in the bowl game, how many of you have been to Boise. A couple of my coaches who had coached in other places and Tom Symonds, our assistant athletic director in charge of media relations, he's been out there before, but not very many of us have, but we've all watched games. That will be need for us to go out there. I've got a lot of respect for what Boise's accomplished in their program over the years and then also what coach (Jay) Norvell has done there at Nevada has been awesome. I've never met Coach before, but I've heard a lot of great things about him."

On last time played in the 30s in windy conditions:

"Last year at Temple was really cold. My first year here we went out and played at UConn and it was extremely cold, so really it's going to be a nice day I think. It's going to be high 30s. I think their temperature is similar to ours today. They are in the 50s today and we're right in the low 50s as well. I don't sit there and dwell on things like that. It's let go out there and play our tails off no matter what the elements are."

On his interest in seeing how Chip Long calls the game:

"Yeah, I'm very interested. Chip's done this a lot, so it's not like we're bringing in a novice to call plays, and he's been here long enough here. He's been with every practice that we've had in preparation for this game. There are a lot of similarities but there are a lot of differences. For him it was more terminology, but also some of the things he's added to the play calling. There are going to be some wrinkles we haven't done before, and that's neat. The players also want to impress the offensive coordinator. There are some obvious differences. Chip and Will Hall are best friends, but they are totally different people, so the kids have had to adapt from one style to the other style, so that's also been good to get that done now rather than waiting for spring football."

On how Long and Hall are different:

"I guess night and day. Their accent. Chip's a little more stoic I would say than Will. Chip is very, very direct. Will is highly enthusiastic, but I've been doing this a long time and there's a lot of different ways to skin a cat, so I enjoy that. And I tell the players that. The next guy is not going to be exactly like the last guy, and they understand that. They've done a super job. They've had very spirited practices. They are excited about going out there and playing this game, so that's one of the things that I've treasured this year is just the attitude that our guys have had in this very different year."

On talk about blue field:

"I don't think so. You know, I told our coaches to make sure they showed a lot of Boise tape from years gone by when they played Nevada just so our guys could see it. When I was at Sam Houston, we'd go up to Central Arkansas and play and they had a purple field. We went out and played Eastern Washington a couple of times and they had a red field. This will be my first blue one."

On momentum carrying over:

"I do think when this all gets back to normal, everything's going to be totally different. It's going to be a boost to morale for everyone in our nation, but certainly going into Christmas break with a win leaves a good taste in your mouth, there's no question about that."

On Nevada:

"They have a great quarterback, the Mountain West (offensive) player of the year. They have a great group of receivers. They are a little more pass heavy, but they run the ball well enough that you've got to respect it Defensively they are an even front 90-something percent of the time. They'll play a lot of man like we do and mix it up and play some zone. They are really solid in the kicking game as well. Their special teams coordinator (Thomas Sheffield) was an assistant of mine at one time. He started off in the equipment room as a student. I'm really proud of Thomas and the things he's done, so they do an excellent job in all three phases, are very disciplined and play hard."

On big-play ability a concern:

"They are going to throw it up, and we have to do a great job on those 50-50 balls, ones when they are trying to put the defensive back at a disadvantage with his back turned and the receiver, you have to do a super job of not only making the quarterback throw off rhythm but in defending the ball. Those are the tough ones. I'm sure they'll throw five to 10 of those up tomorrow."

On winning in trenches:

"We always want to be tough up front. Every week we feel like we've got good depth on the defensive line. We've got a lot of guys that didn't get a chance to play for us that last game that are ready to play this game, so we certainly hope that's an advantage for us. We'll find out tomorrow."

No report yet because I have to cover the basketball game. Will put up one up later, but here are quotes from Fritz and Chip Long.

WILLIE FRITZ

"What a beautiful day today. Unbelievable. That might have been the nicest day we've had this whole year of practicing. What is it right now? 65 or something like that? Perfect. We had a good workout. We are going to start cutting back beginning tomorrow, but we've had quite a few practices. We're just excited to get up there and go and be able to play Tuesday. We're flying out on Monday. It's a pretty long flight, I think it's about 3 1/2 hours to get out there, and then we'll spend the night and play the game and turn around and fly back afterward. It's good preparation. The coaches have done a good job of working in the system and we will be ready for the game."

On clear excitement in practice about bowl game others might be less enthused about:'

"We just have good people in our program. We have good young men and our coaches have done a super job of recruiting student-athletes with character, and I've had very few problems. I'm proud of these guys. They like each other and I really enjoy being around these guys on a daily basis. I never really talk to them about it, but this is rare. This isn't how it is every place, so a credit to those guys and the 18 years they had before they got here."

On recruiting Kai Horton:

"We got in on him a little bit later. We have two excellent freshman quarterbacks here with Michael Pratt and Justin Ibieta. Those two guys are very good players and that might have scared some guys off. I think Kai Horton has won 30 straight games and has thrown 88 touchdown passes and six interceptions, something like that. That coach there does a tremendous job. I'm an old Texas guy. I recruited East Texas for years and years and years as an assistant coach and a head coach, and he does a phenomenal job. Yesterday while we were working, we had the game on, and they were playing Gilmer for the (4A) state championship. They fell behind 14-0 and ended up winning by a little bit, 70-14. Just a powerhouse program. Very much a college system, which a lot of high schools are. The days of running one personnel grouping and three or four formations and four running plays, those days are over. New Orleans is very well coached. Louisiana is well coached. Mississippi is well coached. Alabama is well coached. Georgia is well coached, and certainly Texas is well coached. It was really fun to watch him in a live game and see his interaction with his teammates on the sidelines. A buddy of mine was on the sideline. He does Laser Down, that deal we use on the sidelines, and he was there to promote that and he was giving me updates on the interaction with him on the sideline."

On why Horton was not recruited by more schools:

"A lot of it is no one could go out this year and no one could go out in the spring. That was a big part of it, not being able to go out in it. I don't care what position it is, but moreso with quarterback than any other position, you really want to see that guy live, and part of our recruiting process, one of my old quarterbacks, he's like one of my kids, he's the head coach at China Springs and they played them the week before. A kid named Brian Bell who was a four-year starter for me over at Sam Houston. We called him after they played them (Carthage won 52-14), and he gave us tremendous insight as well. That's somebody I trust giving me that information."

On Nevada's strengths:

"They are going to be a big-time test. This is a great club. They were competing for a conference championship there in the Mountain West. This is a team they've been building over the last few years. They have some excellent receivers and will take some shots against you down the field."

On challenge of game:

"It's great. You always want to test yourself as a coach and as a player. I have a lot of respect for that program. I've had some friends that coached at Nevada and they've had a great tradition of success there."

CHIP LONG

On whirlwind start:

"It's like you said. It's been a whirlwind. The kids have been awesome. Lucky for me I have a pretty good grasp of what I have to work with from watching most of the games and watching Will (Hall). Me and Will talk all the time, and the transition has been awesome. Coach Fritz has been great. The whole staff's been great. It's just me learning a new terminology going into the game, but the way Will would attack teams is quite similar to the way I would attack a team, so it's been good. For me it's just been able to get another spring ball, learning the kids, how they operate, how they work, being around the quarterbacks, so it's been invaluable for me in moving forward with the future of Tulane football."

Crash course on terminology:

"It's been different. It's good, though. We want the kids to go out there and play fast and be loose and not have to worry about a whole new genre of plays. It makes more sense for one person to learn it instead of 40, so that's what we're doing."

On change in terminology for spring ball:

"Just a little but. There will be some things the kids are good with that I can just learn. I did the same thing at Notre Dame, learn their terminology so we were able to start fast and not be slowed up by just minutia of what we're calling certain things. It just helps the kids on the first day of spring really activate and play fast."

On no healthy running backs:

"They've done a great job. They practice hard. They just stayed away from contact, but they've done a good job and had a great presence and put in the work they needed to work. We're just not going to the ground in tackle situations, so you can see them start to get healthy and start to get their quickness back and their confidence back, so that's been good to see. We'll need them."

On impression of personnel:

"It's good. You've got a good young quarterback. The O-line is a veteran group. The receivers are banged up but a good group. They are all young and they are all coming back, so it's exciting for me like I said to get another spring ball because who knows what the spring is going to be like with COVID still lingering. If that gets canceled, I've had two good weeks during the bowl prep."

On Pratt's attitude:

"It's great. What makes Mike so special is the way he affects everybody around him with positivity and excitement and is a great leader for being such a young player, and that's what is so exciting for me and just the growth he'll be able to have from season to season is really exciting for me."

On team's excitement about playing again:

"They are excited. They want to get to play. They are tired of practicing. They are ready to go get it on, and we're looking forward to going out there. It's supposed to be a beautiful day (a low of 24 and a high of 40 with wind at 14 miles per hour is the current forecast for the day), but that could change out West as we all know. But if you want to play at the next level, there's a lot of teams you gotta go to that play in worse weather than this, so guys are excited and ready to go compete."

On Pratt's skill set:

"The game comes easy to him. He has a greet release, great posture in the pocket, anticipation, really nice touch. He can just do some things you don't have to rep and overcoach. It kind of comes natural to him, the way he sees things and just the way he loves the game is real special. If he keeps that up, he'll have a fun future to watch play."

On Jha'Quan Jackson:

"I like the way Quan works. He's like Mike. He's a gym rat. He's always up in the office asking questions. You can move him all around, but he's a guy who likes to work and likes to play football. It's been exciting just to get to know him and what makes him tick and how good he wants to be."

On offensive line:

"It's been good. They have good leadership and a good mixture of veterans and youth in the group and there's some pretty good depth there, but that can obviously change fast. We thought we had a lot of depth in the running back group. It's a fun group to work with. They, as well as a lot of guys on the team, love to play ball, love to learn and it's important to them and they want to go out there and do a good job each and every day."

On getting to call plays again:

"Oh man, I can't wait. It's so much fun being back in the thick of it and having your pulse out there and seeing the guys execute your plan."

Kanarius Johnson

Does anyone know what’s the latest on recent WR decommit, Kanarius Johnson? Some on other sites are convinced he has signed with Southern Miss but that doesn’t seem to be the case. They’ve signed four WRs but not him. One guy even wonders if Coach Fritz regrets hiring Hall because he’s taking away so many of our recruits. But, if you look at Johnson’s twitter site since he decommitted from Tulane, he’s tweeting how he’s “blessed to receive” offers from several Mississippi Junior Colleges. That might suggest he’s not NCAA qualified rather than any of the other potential reasons. Even if that is true, he could become eligible over the Spring or Summer, so who knows. Not that it affects Tulane any more but does anyone have more insight?

Kanarius🎒™️ (@Kanarius5) / Twitter

Roll Wave!!!

There are only seven bowl matchups finalized, and most of them are crappy, so I'm waiting until tomorrow to get a full lineup of eight games. That will give us about 50 hours before kickoff of the Tulane-Nevada game to submit picks.

Be on the lookout for it.

As of now, Tulane has 16 commitments. I've learned that Tulane will not sign Donald Lee tomorrow or ever, so I have removed him from the list. But Elijah Champaigne counts even though I cannot officially add him on the front page here because Rivals considers him a 2020 class. He committed to Tulane last year but did not sign because he was rehabbing a serious knee injury and definitely will sign tomorrow.

I expect maybe a couple more guys to sign tomorrow. Don't know who, but they are pursuing several.

After looking like deer in the headlights for the first 12 minutes against Memphis on Wednesday, Tulane fought back and made it anybody's game with four minutes left before falling part in the next few minutes, particularly offensively.

All in all, it was a good outing for a very young team that proved it could play good defense against a talented opponent. At some point, the Green Wave will need to start hitting a higher percentage of its outside shots--it missed its first 10 3s against Memphis--to win game like this, but the potential is there. Last year, despite the excellent all-around play of Christion Thompson, this team was not athletic enough or good enough to beat teams with a pulse without a fluke like Kevin Zhang's 5 for 5 performance on 3s against Cincinnati. This team appears capable of hanging with more opponents. Whether it beats them will be determined by the quality of its shots and the ability to knock down open looks, which has yet to be determined. Jaylen Forbes, who will finish with one of the highest free throw percentages in school history, appears capable of shooting much better than he has to this point, but Gabe Watson may not be able to hit as many difficult shots as he did against Memphis, when he scored on a variety of tough looks, the ones that make you go "No, No, hey, good shot." Tulane has zero post scoring, but a lot of teams in modern college basketball are in the same boat, and this team fights for rebounds much better than last year's group. Even though it likely will finish near the bottom of the league in rebounding margin, it won't be overwhelmed as often as last season.

Jordan Walker is the linchpin. If he plays under control, he has a lot of ability and can lead this team to good things. I talked to to him on the phone this afternoon about his volatile but mostly positive relatioship with Ron Hunter, who coaches his guys hard and does not tolerate mistakes.

How would you describe your relationship with coach Hunter?

"I would say we have like a love-hate relationship. I know at the end of the day he wants what's best for me, and I know every day outside of basketball he will be there for me no matter what in any circumstance of my life. It's hard to realize that sometimes because when you love basketball so much, sometimes you lose the bigger picture of what the coach is really asking of you. Basically coach Hunter just demands a lot of you, and in my opinion it's because he sees that I'm very talented and he sees that I can help him win. I can take hard criticism and I can take when he yells when he is emotional because I'm emotional, too. I feel like we're basically the same person, just he's a coach and I'm a player."

How has the relationship evolved since he arrived?

"I think it's evolved tremendously. It went from him not even knowing who I was to him realizing he's a good enough player but I don't think he can start to he's starting to just being a captain now and being that leader when he needs someone to be a leader. Like I say all the time, he wants a player-led team rather than a coach-led team, so he looks for me to be basically him on the floor at all times."

You had an amazing basket last night where you drove to the basket and made an acrobatic lay-up to cut the deficit to 2 in the second half. How did you develop that game?

"Where I learned how to do that, I'm from New York. I'm Jelly, too. That's just in me. I didn't plan that I was going to do it. I was in the air and I figured like I guess this is going to work, but I've worked on that move plenty of times in my life. I've missed way more than I made, but luckily I made it last night. I try to do what coach Hunter needs me to do, so if I feel like we're in the game and coach Hunter things we're not getting enough offense, then I'm going to be that person to get us some offense. If coach Hunter feels like we're not playing defense enough, I'm going to be that person to go play defense. Whatever he needs us to do at the end of the day that's what I'm going to try to do first so everyone else can follow. If I follow what he does, everyone is going to follow me because I'm the leader."

Coach Hunter says you're one of the smartest players he's coached but that sometimes you don't play like it. How do you feel like your game has evolved in that area?

"I feel like sometimes I have a lot of mental lapses. I have a lot of times where I lose sight of the game and lose my focus. My coaches preach to me to stay locked in and stay focused and just try to make the right play every single time even if it's the simple play. They always tell me like Jordan, you don't need the home run every time, like hit singles because eventually we are going to score and we are going to get on base and we are going to keep scoring. I think I'm a very smart player, and hearing him say that is just crazy to me him saying I'm one of the smartest players he's ever had. I'm definitely getting better at it, but I need to slow down more. I have to understand the speed of the game and slow my mind down so that I can make good decisions. I've been working on that a lot."

Coach Hunter said last year you were Jelly and this year you are Jordan. What does he mean by that?

"He's never really liked the Jelly focus because he wants me to be simple. He loves when you can make fancy plays and play basketball off of instinct, but at the same time in order to win at this level consistently, you have to do the simple things perfectly. If you try to do the hard things perfectly every time, it's not going to happen. He's big on fundamentals. He tries to make me slow my game down like I said."

Where did you get the nickname Jelly?

"Jelly's been like when we're not with each other, everyone calls us individually like jelly. When I'm not with everyone and we're by ourselves and with our own group of friends, we're all called jelly, but once we're together with each other, that's when we really call each other our names."

The players were rewarded with an off day today after some intense workouts earlier in the week.

Guerry - 2020 is a crazy year so I haven't had much time to keep up with everything on the sports front. I just realized that all seniors were granted an additional year of eligibility. How does that affect Tulane football. What seniors are staying? Leaving? How did that affect the numbers for this years signing class. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Tulane had a really spirited practice this morning at Yulman Stadium, with a fight between defensive and offensive players during an 11-on-11 drill almost breaking out at one point. The intensity was very high from start to finish, and at one point coach Willie Fritz blew.a whistle, called the players together and lauded them for their "great energy" and "great competitiveness" before sending them to individual drills.

Chris Hampton has not been officially hired yet, so he was not out there (there will be an official announcement tomorrow), but the defense was flying around the field and whooping and hollering quite a bit. The unit played without starting bookends Cam Sample and Patrick Johnson, who were named first-team All-AAC today. I'm not sure where Johnson was--Fritz had to cut his post-practice interview short because of a recruiting Zoom call--but Sample was out there giving pointers but not in full uniform. I will check on their status later this week. A large number of players were not there, which may be contract-tracing related. The absent included cornerback Kevaris Hall, who was replaced by Ajani Kerr, KJ Vault, whom I have not seen in a long time, Duece Watts, Jacob Robertson, Tyrek Presley, Keshon Williams and Colby Orgeron. Additionally, Michael Lombardi, Josh Remetich and Reggie Brown did not have their helmets, but linebacker Kevin Henry, who has not played since taking a cheap shot to the knee against Army, practiced.

A few notes:

--The offensive play of the day came from tight end Will Wallace, who made a juggling catch in traffic and broke into the clear for what would have a big gain in a live drill. Freshman safety Shi'Keem Laister, who played sparingly this year, defended a deep ball from Michael Pratt to Jha'Quan Jackson perfectly. Linebacker Marvin Moody made a nice break-up in seven-on-seven work.

--The front four without Patrick Johnson and Sample was Angelo Anderson, Eric Hicks, Jeffery Johnson and Darius Hodges. Carlos Hatcher, who has been out with injury since the UCF game, was back practicing.

--An an example of the staff's attention to detail, Fritz kept hollering out during a punt-block drill that Nevada's punter if left-footed.

--Christian Daniels got some reps at running back.

--Tulane had eight players on the All-AAC team, matching its number from 1998 and exceeding every other year since it got 10 in 1997. The third first-team was punter Ryan Wright, whose 45.78 average is third in school history behind Brad Hill (46.19) and Ross Thevenot (45.80). The four second-teamers were Stephon Huderson, Corey Dublin, Sincere Haynesworth and Dorian Williams. Joey Claybrook was honorable mention. When he began talking, Fritz said Michael Pratt deserved to be AAC Freshman of the Year. SMU's Ulysses Bentley would have been the right choice if they went with just one, but they went with two and ECU's Rajhai Harris (629 yards, 4.9 yards per carry) did not have as good a season as Pratt. Fritz also said Nick Anderson should have been somewhere (I agree). He singled out those two because they spoke on the video conference after he did..

FRITZ

"Since I last spoke to you, Chip Long has been added to our staff as our offensive coordinator. He will also be coaching the quarterbacks. George Barnett has started for us and he'll also be our offensive line coach. He comes to us from Miami of Ohio. I'm excited to get him. I know some people who know George well and recommended him highly. He's going to do a super job for us. The same thing with coach Long. We're going to have a new defensive coordinator, but nothing is official right now, so I can't comment on that, but we will have a new defensive coordinator that will be with us. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to announce that, but we've got to cross some t's and dot some i's. We all know coach Hall went over to Southern Miss, and then Jordy Joseph is going to be the wide receiver coach over there. He's been working as an analyst for us. I'm really proud of Jordy. He's got three degrees from Tulane and did a fantastic job for us. He will be their wide receiver coach (actually running backs). And then Cody Kennedy went over there. Cody did a super job for us, and then Ben Thomas, who coached the offensive line as one of our graduate assistants, he's going to go over with coach Hall as an analyst. We're gonna lose a few guys, but we're happy for them, but we're also bringing some guys into the family as well."

On changing defensive coordinators:

'It's always difficult to do that. There are some areas we did a very nice job of and some areas that we wanted to improve on. There are just some things we want to do a little bit differently. Coach Curtis worked extremely hard for us. I appreciate all of his efforts."

On the Potato Bowl:

"We're excited about it. As I told our guys, there's not many teams that played 11 games, much less a bowl game. It's the first time I've ever played at Boise in their stadium. It's another chanced to play on national TV. We'll be on ESPN, and I believe we'll be the only game in the world going on at that time. I don't think there's going to be another game on any other station. It's the only bowl game going on and I know the NFL's not playing that day. I don't think there's any high school games on a Tuesday, so If people want to watch football at 2:30 our time wherever they are at all over this great world, they are going to be watching the Green Wave, so we're excited about that."

Anything happening for signing days, Wednesday, December 16, 2020 thru December 18, 2020?

Guerry, are you going to be able to get by for any practices this week?

Any chance you get to speak with out new coordinators

6'5 200 lb wide receiver from Oklahoma.

The Boca Raton Bowl invited UCF today against an ACC opponent to be named later. The ACC was not that bowl's original tie-in (CUSA/MAC), which is concerning if bowls start discarding their AAC tie-ins instead of just the lower-level leagues.

At the moment, the AAC's seven guaranteed bids (eight if Cincinnati beats Tulsa twice and gets the access bowl spot) have nine possible bowl destinations, with two certainties in the Military Bowl (team not named yet) on Dec. 28 against an ACC opponent and the Boca Raton Bowl. The Armed Forces Bowl was on the list but already has announced it will take two teams from Power Five conferences.

Here is the full list with date and original opposing conference, with the exception of the Boca Raton Bowl, where I've changed it to ACC:

Frisco Bowl Dec. 18 (CUSA/MAC/Mountain West)

Myrtle Beach Bowl Dec. 21 (CUSA/MAC/Sun Belt)

Idaho Potatoes Bowl Dec. 22 (Mountain West)

Boca Raton Bowl Dec. 22 (ACC)

Gasparilla Bowl Dec. 26 (SEC/ACC)

First Responders Bowl Dec. 26 (ACC/Big 12)

Cure Bowl Dec. 26 (Sun Belt/MAC)

Military Bowl Dec. 28 (ACC)

Birmingham Bowl Jan. 1 (SEC)

I have no idea where Tulane will end up if it gets to go to a bowl, but I would not rule out the possibility of playing a Power 5 opponent. The conference office does not care where you finish in the league. They care whether you have a chance to win the game, and Tulane would have a much better chance than Navy, a better chance than Memphis and SMU and about the same chance as Houston. The only teams clearly ahead of Tulane are Cincinnati, UCF and Tulsa (based on its record). With geography more important than normal, I would not rule out the Birmingham Bowl, but no one really knows what will happen in this environment.

Navy will probably lose to Army, so I'm not sure the Midshipmen will accept a bowl bid at 3-7, and I can't imagine the AAC letting Navy take a beat-down to an ACC team on its home field at the Military Bowl.

George Barnett posted at Tulane Athletics

I’ve been hearing rumblings (from a player) that Fritz fired Jack Curtis today.

Tulane just released it.

I talked to Cody Kennedy about an hour after he tweeted that he was leaving Tulane. Everyone knows he is going to Southern Miss, but he did not tweet that part because he was waiting for it to be official on that end. He will be the offensive line coach and run game coordinator there.

In my opinion, Kennedy is one of the two or three best assistant coaches Tulane has had in the last 10 years. He made all the right moves this year, from recognizing Caleb Thomas's improvement in the preseason to switching Ben Knutson to left tackle when Joey Claybrook got hurt (a move I panned here and then watched as Knutson did so well, he started at right tackle when Claybrook returned) to his willingness to bench a true freshman he liked (Trey Tuggle) because he wanted his best five out there (as Knutson turned out to be). With all of the freshmen who did not play earning rave reviews for their potential, this should be an outstanding group next year if no one enters the transfer portal.

Here was our conversation:

Was it a tough decision for you?

"I went back and forth on it. It was a tough decision because this is my first really big-time job and we had recruited so well in the past cycle. There's a lot of really young, talented guys. We started three freshmen and a sophomore against Memphis and won the game, so that weighs on you a little bit. I've got loyalty to coach Fritz for taking a chance on me in my first job, and I've got loyalty to coach Hall. I've been with coach Hall for a long time. That's the downside of this business. You create strong relationships working with somebody every day, but eventually you've got to break them at some point down the road. It's a good opportunity, but I also saw the lure of what Tulane has to offer and our stock's trending up here. It's hard to leave a place where you've laid the foundation and laid the groundwork for something special and not reap the highest reward from it."

How good do you feel about what you are leaving behind compared to what you inherited on the line two years ago?

"That's it, man. It's to the point where you get to breathe a little bit, and when we were healthy this year, we were on. We were able to go against anybody in the conference. It just so happened we were banged up when we went against some of the premier teams in the conference. Of all things that I thought were going to get me, I thought it was going to be the COVID, but we had the injury bug for most of the year. I don't think I started the same offensive line in back-to-back weeks since Southern Miss (not true, but the point is valid), so it was kind of a musical chairs act. I was pulling all the stops out trying to get it done."

I didn't even realize what was going on with all the linemen you lost during the Houston game. What was that like?

"It was bombs over Baghdad on the sideline. It was, hey man, put your mouthpiece in, boom, go. It was a wild one. It ended up settling down, but you earn your stripes real quick going through games like that."

Are you going to have the same title at Southern Miss?

"I'll be offensive line and run game coordinator up there. I'm a little bit old school on that. The offensive coordinator title is a little bit sacred for me, and if I'm not going to be coordinating, I don't want credit for it, good or bad. But coach Hall made it right in every way to make it enticing. He did a good job with getting all that together, but it really won't be officially official until I get up there Wednesday or Thursday. I know it's already out there, but that's why I left it gray (in his tweet, which made no mention of USM). But I don't mind people putting it out there."

How good do you think Tulane's offensive line will be next year if everyone sticks around?

"it's going to be so special, and that was the allure. That's what made it tough is we finally got a crew of five guys, and Sincere Haynesworth was rated the No. 1 Pro Football Focus center in the conference. You've got him coming back and he has three more years left (potentially), and just seeing the progress from Joey Claybrook from last year, being a little bit of a liability at times, to this year being one of the better tackles. After his two more years here, he is going to be one of the best tackles in this league. I firmly believe that, so that was the draw. It's always hard to leave those guys."

Did you talk to the linemen about your decision today?

"Yeah, I actually took them out to eat dinner last night and told them all before. It really wasn't set in stone until right before the (Memphis) game. I kind of made my decision."

You were 29 when Fritz hired you at Hall's recommendation. How much do you feel indebted to Fritz for agreeing to bring in an untested coach as young as you were?

"That means the world to me. That's tough for a guy that's been coaching for as long as Willie has been to hand the reins over to a 29-year-old line coach in the American Football Conference. I never took that lightly the whole time I was here. That will always be a little bit of a chip on my shoulder until I guess I am an old guy, but I am forever grateful for that. He took a chance on me, and you can't ever downplay that because I by no means had a track record at the time to really be in the mix. I guess I surrounded myself with good enough people to get in there, but I am forever grateful for the chance."

It’s going to be tough to get selected for a bowl game, imo. 10 have already cancelled and there’s no win requirement so bowls will select teams like crap teams like lsu for their ratings regardless of our winning record.

I’ve been told that if Cincy finishes outside of the top 8 we don’t really have a chance to be in a bowl, which I don’t really understand. But with bowl games cancelling it makes it so much harder for us to be in one.

Why not schedule a 12th game in the Dome and call it a bowl?

The Tulane basketball team gets back on the court after a 10-day break on Wednesday night, playing Southern Miss. Tulane should win--the Golden Eagles were picked to finish second-to-last in CUSA--but the storyline is Gabe Watson facing his old team after leading USM in scoring last year and transferring to Tulane. He returned to practice Monday after missing time due to the concussion he sustained in the second half of the opener against Lamar and will come off the bench against USM.

I talked to Ron Hunter on the phone (with Tulane's COVID restrictions tighter for indoors events, I have not been to a single practice or done post-practice interviews this year) yesterday evening.

On how he feels going into the game:

"I feel pretty good. We had to get Gabe Watson back. That kind of hurt us at the end of the game the other day not having him, so now we know we'll have him back. Usually what happens is you have these games and they just keep coming. This is actually a pretty good lay-off for us because I didn't know anything about my team. After some games we were able to make some adjustments and we'll play two this week, so I feel good about where we are right now. The best part about it is that you play the games you want, so you can make corrections. It's always great to make corrections after wins."

On Watson status:

"Today is actually his first what I call contact practice. Today has been the first day we'll allow him to go full contact."

On Watson emotions facing Southern Miss:

"Yeah, I've had guys like that before, and one of the things is you try to calm them down a little bit because they get so excited. They are a well-coached, good team, but we have to do what we do and not get over-hyped about this is my former school. But I don't care what you say. Every kid will be that way. Hell, I was that way when I coached against my former school. It's just a natural part of it."

On when he knew Watson would transfer in:

"Gosh, I can't even remember. It was during that onslaught of all the transfers we were getting at the time. I remember coaching against him, and (Tulane assistant) coach (Kevin) Johnson knew him really well. At that time we were recruiting Forbes because they are both from the same hometown, so that really helped. I knew they kind of wanted to play together, so that was a great sell for us to bring them both in together."

On Watson's best asset:

"He can score. We are trying to fit his talents into our system and it's been a struggle with that, but he's a really talented kid offensively. When he sees that ball go in, he's just a natural scorer, so we're trying to make sure that we can fit his talents into what we're doing. There have been times in practice where he's absolutely just lit it up, and there are times, even our first game, where he was just trying too hard like all the rest of the guys. I wish he had had that second game. Now his second game is going to be another game he is going to be overly hyped. The good thing is I can bring him off the bench this game where he can relax. We started him the first one, and I'll bring him off the bench this time."

On improved athleticism:

"It helps a lot I told you before we had to improve our athleticism and we had to improve our 3-point shooting. Those are two things we definitely were much better at. To compete with the teams that we've got to play, we had to be, so I'm happy about that and we'll continue to get better. Our young guys just need game experience. I like this team. I think it's going to be a good team. We just now need game experience."

On Sion James:

"The scoring part will come. That will be the last piece, but if you look at his rebounding, his blocked shots, how he delivered the ball, his assists. His floor game is unbelievable. I've played him in two games and he can basically play all four positions on the floor offensively and defensively. I've never done that before with a freshman. He's smart. He just gets it. He knows how to fill up a stat sheet. He just turned 18 years old, so he's just scratching the surface with all this, but he's a talented, talented young man. The scoring part will come. I have no doubt about that. I've just been impressed with his defense and he now makes all the calls for us defensively."

On technical foul called on Jaden Coleman that sent him to the bench against Lipscomb:

"He learned a lesson because he came right out and didn't play again. That's the immaturity, That's the thing that we have to learn for our team, but he understand that. We talked afterward. That's probably the first time he's seen my intensity about something I don't like. He learned real fast how that's supposed to work. That's the thing when you have so many young guys. They are all talented, but they all want to play, so competition has really been good for us. On this team if you don't play well, there's a guy sitting there waiting to play. R.J. (McGee) was the perfect example of that."

As per the usual, one game was not played (SMU-Houston for the second consecutive week). I really thought Auburn would cover against Texas A&M and help me out, but even though A&M trailed entering the fourth quarter, the stats show they dominated the game and deserved their cover. Tulsa covered with a late field goal against Navy. Clubhouse leader Pallii did not enter after making picks every other week.

We won't know for a while whether these are the final results. There will be a bowl edition if Tulane goes to a bowl.

WEEK 11 RESULTS

7

diverdo
chigoyboy
Wavetime

6

charlamange8
DrBox
GretnaGreen

5

MNAlum
Guerry
buck2481

4

ny oscar
winwave

3

WaveON


OVERALL STANDINGS

55

buck2481

54

Guerry
DrBox
Wavetime

53

chigoyboy

52

ny oscar
diverdo

51

paliii
GretnaGreen

50

WaveON

49

MNAlum

47

winwave
charlamange8


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 11 of 12
Texas A&M 9
Alabama 10
Tulsa 5
Clemson 11
TCU 2
Arkansas 6

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

Tulane (-1.5) Memphis
Auburn (+6.5) Texas A&M
LSU (+28.5) Alabama
Navy (+11) Tulsa
SMU (+1) Houston
Virginia Tech (+22) Clemson
TCU (+2.5) Oklahoma State
Missouri (-3) Arkansas

Tulane practiced at the Superdome today because there was a forecast for rain. Dome workouts are closed to reporters this year because of COVID, but Willie Fritz talked in a Zoom call when they got back to campus.

"We had a good week of workouts. We went down to the Superdome today. We've always appreciated them letting us come down there and use that tremendous facility. We've been unable to go out and use the Saints facility during this time. They are always so generous in allowing us to come out there as well. We thought there might be rain. There wasn't, but it went well. We hadn't been there for a while, so we had a nice, spirited workout. We're getting ready to play Memphis this Saturday at 11 a.m. It's a game that got pushed back a week. Guys have done a good job. I was concerned a little bit with this free time that we had last week over Thanksgiving, everybody going home, but we've done a nice job with our protocols of everybody being able to participate. We have another (coronavirus) test tomorrow morning.

"I am real happy for Will Hall. He accepted the head coaching position at Southern Mississippi. Will's done a great job for us. I've known Will early in his career. He did a good job as a Division II head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia. When I talked to people over there (at Southern Miss)--their athletic director and some other people--he's a natural fit. Everybody's concerned when they are hiring someone and getting a name and all that other kind of stuff. Will knows about every third person over there in the state, and he'll be a great fit and has been a head coach before. We're playing a game. I know there's a lot of rumor and innuendo. I've had my phone bowing up here the last few days. We're waiting until we get through this big game on Saturday before we start moving forward on candidates and things like that. We're very happy for Will and his family. That's a great deal for him. I hate losing coaches. You get attached to not only the coach, but the families. I've been head coach now for a long time and this happened to me quite frequently. They move on to a job that might appear to be a better situation for them. Obviously this one is for Will. I imagine this is the first time in the history of Tulane that an assistant coach has taken an FBS coaching job. I'm just guessing. I could be wrong, but I'm happy for him."

Clearly it seems like Will kept you apprised with what was going on at Southern Miss. What was the communication like?

"He did a great job. He told me what was happening, what was going on. The athletic director over there did a great job as well. In this day and age it's difficult to keep everybody apprised and keep it quiet because you don't know when this could be a distraction, but obviously he did a great job being very professional in this situation, which I didn't expect anything less."

Do you feel pretty good about the players being able to handle the distraction and processing the news?

"They've done a great job. One of the things i did when we announced it to the players Wednesday morning prior to practice was I got all the seniors up there because this was going to be their last game for a lot of those guys. I said Will has given his blood, sweat and tears for two years for Tulane University, and I got some of these guys who have done it for five, so let's send them all out on a good note. That's one of the blessings that I have here at Tulane. I can have adult conversations with guys every day, which is good. They understand there's change at times, and it's my job to go out and find another great one."

From finding Will Hall to working with him for the first year, how quickly did you realize this guy's going to be a (FBS) head coach eventually and we might not be able to keep him for long?

"I watch all the time with guys wanting to learn and see things through my lens. He's one' of the few assistant coaches I've had who would pick my brain about things and ask me questions. I almost think it's impossible for a guy to go down in levels. They are this level and then go down to 1-AA or Division II and generally speaking they are unhappy because there aren't all the bells and whistles they had at the other job. But going up, it really gives you a great appreciation for what you have. I know I have that here at Tulane and every place I've ever been from starting at Juco to Division II to 1-AA to Georgia Southern to eventually getting to the top level of collegiate football here at Tulane. It just was a fit. I comment their athletic director. I'm sure he vetted a lot of people, but it's got to be a fit. He's got the experience and it was a great hire."

Are the reports about Chip Long being your next offensive coordinator premature, or do you just not want to address the opening right now?

"Everything is premature. I had a lot of interesting phone calls from friends last evening who called me about different deals, so I finally just quit answering the phone and just put it on mute, so all our focus is on Memphis."

Do you expect to make a decision next week?

"You hope, but you never know. I'm not as good at this as some other people. There are some people who are always planning ahead and they have lists for every position coach and this, that and the other thing, but I always have four or five guys in my mind, and then I make sure that I call some people that I trust in the profession. You always want to check and make sure. Will, I knew him personally but I also knew some places that he'd worked at and had some people that I trusted, and that's why I hired him. I brought him in and interviewed him just like you do with everybody, but it's important to get face to face with people, and I don't mean like this (a Zoom call) in the COVID era. I mean real face to face."

Has it been determined whether Cody Kennedy will follow Hall to Southern Miss?

"I don't think it's been determined at all. I always want everybody to do what they feel is best for them and their career and their families and all those kind of things. Cody's done a tremendous job for us as well. We're not going to broach that with anybody until after we get done with this game, and I told Will that also."

How much will you miss Will Hall's recruiting, especially in Mississippi?

"He did a good job in Mississippi. He knows everybody over there, and even if he didn't, he'd be a good recruiter. A good recruiter is a good recruiter whether you put them in Alaska or Florida. I'm blessed that I have a bunch of those guys on my staff."

What have the seniors meant to this program?

"They bought into everything we were doing. I can't even tell you how many of these guys have graduated already before we even play this game on Saturday. A bunch of them are finishing up a master's degree, and I have not talked to any of them about next year because we've got this free year right now. I'm sure some of these guys are going to come back and get more degree, but I didn't want that to be a distraction. I wanted it to be their decision and having a good conversation when the season is over. They've done a tremendous job. I believe they are the winningest senior class in the history of Tulane (actually just for this century), so that's something, too. They are real close to being big time the winningest class. They've taken us from one place and done a super job of getting us where we're competitive and winning games. Obviously we want to push that even more and do even better."

How much of an emphasis is there on just becoming bowl eligible (actually, every team is bowl eligible this year)?

"Big time. Big time. It's a huge goal for us, and that's something we've talked about all season and certainly we've talked about it this week."

In total offense you are around 60 in the country (68th), but in touchdowns you are fifth (actually tied for eighth in raw total). What do you feel like that says about the group?

"They've done a super job, but part of that is we've played a few more games than other people have as well. We've played 10 and getting ready to play 11. We've done an excellent job in the red zone area, capitalizing on points. Special teams and defense with takeaways have set up some short field, and we've done a nice job of getting touchdowns instead of field goals."

What does it say about this team that you've gotten in all your games when most schools haven't?

"It's been a very, very, very, very strange year without question. But to be honest with you I am going to use this in recruiting. I'm going to tell kids, all right, here are the guys you are going to be around. They've handled it in an adult manner. And it's day after day after day. We're walking into the Superdome and I'm 'mask, mask,' and I only have to say it to a couple of guys who forget for a second, so it's fun to be around these guys and be able to have adult conversations. They do a really nice job. It's a credit to them, our medical staff, our athletic trainers, all the coaches, but we still have 18- to 22-year olds, and they've done a very nice job. This is a tricky deal with how people get it. We've had all sorts of people get it across the country, haven't we?