1) Tonight's game at Nicholls is a big deal for the Tulane baseball team, which was brutal away from home last year. The Green Wave went 6-17 on the road during the regular season and 1-2 in the AAC tourney. Nicholls probably is not very good--The Colonels were picked ninth by the coaches and SIDs in the Southland Conference preseason poll--but their announced starting pitcher has allowed only one earned run in three appearances covering 10 inning this year. Josh Bates needs to be sharp, and the hitters have to keep doing what they've been doing at Turchin Stadium. Good teams wins games like this. Heck, Tulane won at Nicholls in 2017, and that turned out not to be a good team. The right tone needs to be set headed into the North Carolina tournament against two teams that appear to be bad (Dartmouth and St. Joe's) and one that appears to be decent (Army). At the very worst, Tulane needs to go 3-1 this week as it tries to prove it is a totally different team than the last two years.
2) The start of spring football practice is exactly two weeks away as Tulane tries to build on its Cure Bowl victory. I can't wait to see what the offense looks like under new coordinator Will Hall. How much will it change from what we saw in the past three years under Doug Ruse? With Justin McMillan returning along with Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey, the opportunities in the passing game should be there, but the real revelation with McMillan was how comfortable he was as a decisive runner. It looks like Tulane should have the dual-threat guy at the position it has always lacked, with Jonathan Banks only having flashes rather than any consistent production as a passer and becoming a reluctant runner this past year before getting benched. But I truly don't know what the offense will look like now with Hall and Willie Fritz.
3) The basketball team appears headed for 0-18 in the AAC. For a story that ran in The Advocate on Saturday, I researched every team that went winless in conference play over the past 15 years and what happened to their coaches. Only one, Tim Miles at Colorado State, had any success after his winless year, which was his first there in 2008. He built the Rams into an NCAA tourney team and bolted for Nebraska (where he might get fired after this season).
Since Miles, the most success any coach had after a winless season was Kerry Keating taking Santa Clara to the CIT or CBI championship near the end of a mostly disappointing nine-year run. His winless season came in year No. 5. Most of the 23 coaches in the last 15 years who have gone winless were fired either in the season it happened or in the next two years. Jim Christian of Boston College appeared to be bucking the trend with significant improvement last season, two years after he went winless, but the Eagles have regressed this season and he is in trouble. Tulane is sticking with Mike Dunleavy, but history indicates it is incredibly unlikely there will be a turnaround down the road.
Here is the full list, which includes only six coaches from major conferences--two from the ACC and one each from the SEC, the Big 12, the Big East and the Pac-12. There could be three more this year with Tulane, California and Vanderbilt all winless in conference play.
2018
Pittsburgh (fired Kevin Stallings after 2nd year)
2016
Boston College (2nd year under Jim Christian, still there)
Chicago State (sixth season under Tracy Dildy, who was fired after 8)
2015
San Jose State (2nd year under David Wojcik, resigned after fourth year)
Grambling (1st year under Shawn Walker, fired after three)
2014
TCU (2nd year under Trent Johnson, fired after fourth)
2013
Grambling (first year under Joseph Price, fired after 2nd)
2012
Kennesaw State (first year under Lewis Preston, resigned during third year)
South Carolina State (fifth year under Tim Carter, fired after sixth)
UT Martin (third year under Jason James, fired after fifth)
Navy (first year under Ed DeChellis, now in eighth)
Santa Clara (Kerry Keating in fifth year, fired after ninth)
2011
Towson (Pat Kennedy in seventh year, fired then)
2010
Fordham (Dereck Whittenburg fired 5 games in, seventh year)
2009
DePaul (Jerry Wainright in fourth year, fired early in fifth)
SE Missouri (Scott Edgar in 3rd year, went on leave early)
Air Force (2nd year under Jeff Reynolds, fired during fifth season)
2008
Rice (Willis Wilson in 16th year, fired then)
Colorado State (first year under Tim Miles, left for Nebraska after 5 years)
Oregon State (Jay John in sixth season, fired during year)
2005
Campbell (2nd year under Robbie Laing, lasted 10 years)
2004
Texas A&M (sixth year under Melvin Watkins, fired then)
Cleveland State (first year under Mike Garland, fired after three)
2) The start of spring football practice is exactly two weeks away as Tulane tries to build on its Cure Bowl victory. I can't wait to see what the offense looks like under new coordinator Will Hall. How much will it change from what we saw in the past three years under Doug Ruse? With Justin McMillan returning along with Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey, the opportunities in the passing game should be there, but the real revelation with McMillan was how comfortable he was as a decisive runner. It looks like Tulane should have the dual-threat guy at the position it has always lacked, with Jonathan Banks only having flashes rather than any consistent production as a passer and becoming a reluctant runner this past year before getting benched. But I truly don't know what the offense will look like now with Hall and Willie Fritz.
3) The basketball team appears headed for 0-18 in the AAC. For a story that ran in The Advocate on Saturday, I researched every team that went winless in conference play over the past 15 years and what happened to their coaches. Only one, Tim Miles at Colorado State, had any success after his winless year, which was his first there in 2008. He built the Rams into an NCAA tourney team and bolted for Nebraska (where he might get fired after this season).
Since Miles, the most success any coach had after a winless season was Kerry Keating taking Santa Clara to the CIT or CBI championship near the end of a mostly disappointing nine-year run. His winless season came in year No. 5. Most of the 23 coaches in the last 15 years who have gone winless were fired either in the season it happened or in the next two years. Jim Christian of Boston College appeared to be bucking the trend with significant improvement last season, two years after he went winless, but the Eagles have regressed this season and he is in trouble. Tulane is sticking with Mike Dunleavy, but history indicates it is incredibly unlikely there will be a turnaround down the road.
Here is the full list, which includes only six coaches from major conferences--two from the ACC and one each from the SEC, the Big 12, the Big East and the Pac-12. There could be three more this year with Tulane, California and Vanderbilt all winless in conference play.
2018
Pittsburgh (fired Kevin Stallings after 2nd year)
2016
Boston College (2nd year under Jim Christian, still there)
Chicago State (sixth season under Tracy Dildy, who was fired after 8)
2015
San Jose State (2nd year under David Wojcik, resigned after fourth year)
Grambling (1st year under Shawn Walker, fired after three)
2014
TCU (2nd year under Trent Johnson, fired after fourth)
2013
Grambling (first year under Joseph Price, fired after 2nd)
2012
Kennesaw State (first year under Lewis Preston, resigned during third year)
South Carolina State (fifth year under Tim Carter, fired after sixth)
UT Martin (third year under Jason James, fired after fifth)
Navy (first year under Ed DeChellis, now in eighth)
Santa Clara (Kerry Keating in fifth year, fired after ninth)
2011
Towson (Pat Kennedy in seventh year, fired then)
2010
Fordham (Dereck Whittenburg fired 5 games in, seventh year)
2009
DePaul (Jerry Wainright in fourth year, fired early in fifth)
SE Missouri (Scott Edgar in 3rd year, went on leave early)
Air Force (2nd year under Jeff Reynolds, fired during fifth season)
2008
Rice (Willis Wilson in 16th year, fired then)
Colorado State (first year under Tim Miles, left for Nebraska after 5 years)
Oregon State (Jay John in sixth season, fired during year)
2005
Campbell (2nd year under Robbie Laing, lasted 10 years)
2004
Texas A&M (sixth year under Melvin Watkins, fired then)
Cleveland State (first year under Mike Garland, fired after three)
