The first Thursday of the NCAA tournament is my Holy Day, so I did not have a write-up yesterday after attending the morning practice, but here it is. I asked Jon Sumrall about Trey Tuggle, and he is indeed no longer on the team.
"Trey already had graduated, is working on his master's and he has decider to be done playing football, Sumrall said. "It's something that when the injury happened and you get an older guy like that who already has his degree in hand, they have decisions to make. We support Trey fully. Great guy. Would have loved to have had him back. Was not anything like we're like, hey, you need to leave. Love Trey. Mississippi guy. Great kid. Had his degree in hand and was wrapping up his master's so just felt like it was in his heart to move on and go do life as opposed to keep playing football, which no judgment in that al all."
Tuggle is a loss because he was slated to start last year at left tackle before his ACL injury near the end of spring drills. That spot is no longer open because of Derrick Graham, but Tuggle certainly could have been in the mix at right tackle. His departure leaves Tulane with two linemen who have significant experience in Green Wave uniforms--Graham and Shadre Hurst. The other 15 practicing in the spring are either young or transfers.
It was chilly and very windy Thursday morning, but the practice was much more lively than Tuesday's, which was a little flat. This one had the typical Sumrall-coached energy, and the defense made a lot of big plays. Safety Jack Tchienchou jumped a route for a pick six against TJ Finley in 11-on-11, and cornerback E'Zaiah Shine recovered a fumble for a score after a botched exchange between Finley and a running back whose number I did not catch. Finley immediately dropped down to do push-ups after the interception, but it was a really good play by Tchienchou, whom I believe will be an All-AAC player in the fall. There also was a touchdown in 7-on7 when Jahiem Johnson stepped in front of a pass from walk-on Jakson Judge and ran to the end zone. Johnson has looked good in the first week, and he is a guy that was healthy all last spring and still ended up being outplayed by Rishi Rattan. He's not the same player now. It's too early to get a handle on the depth chart as guys rotate in and out, but Johnson and Pleasant would be my first-team cornerbacks at the moment with Shine, Armani Cargo and Wofford transfer Isaiah Wadsworth in the picture. The nickelbacks--spears in this staff's terminology--are Javion White, Jaydon Lewis and East Central University transfer Tavare Smith. The starting safeties are Tchienchou and Bailey Despanie, with Kevin Adams, Joshua Moore and Chase Green competing for roles.
Jesus Machado and Chris Rodgers were playing together at linebacker Thursday, and later Jean Claude Joseph joined Machado. Even though he has been 100-percent cleared and even could have come back at the end of last season, I'm not sure Machado really feels 100 percent. We talked to him after practice, but he never has been a good talker, so it was hard to get a read. Obviously Sam Howard and Dickson Agu will play big roles there, too. The tallest linebacker out there is Missouri State transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson, who is listed at 6-5, 230. I can't recall seeing a Tulane linebacker that tall.
The offensive linemen on the same unit as Graham and Hurst were Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at guard and Reese Baker at right tackle. Another unit from left to right was Liberty transfer Jordan Hall, who strangely is listed as a Georgia transfer on the roster we were given, Appalachian State transfer Jack Hollifield, FIU transfer John Bock at center, Nicholls transfer Robbie Pizzolato and Indiana State transfer Jude McCoskey. I also saw Hollifield at center some unless I wrote it down wrong.
Bryce Bohanon has not done much on the field in his Tulane career, but he has looked a lot better in the first week. He made a nice cut to get open for a pass in 1-on-1 drills and had a long catch-and-run on a throw from Donovan Leary. Getting separation has been his problem, but it looks like he will have a better chance of making an impact in the fall. Kentucky transfer Anthony Brown-Stephens has a nice catch on a deep out, and Louisville transfer Jimmy Calloway scored on a pass from Finley. Zycarl Lewis left Smith on the ground with a sharp move. The throw of the day came from Leary to Shazz Preston on a fade when he had only a half-step of separation and the ball hit him in the hands running full speed in the corner of the end zone. Kadin Semonza talked about the chip on his shoulder Tuesday trying to prove doubters wrong because of his short stature, but Leary came across as the guy with the real chip on his shoulder. He felt like he should have earned more playing time at Illinois than he received.
Sidney Mbanasor, who looked good Tuesday, dropped a TD pass Thursday, then pulled up as he tried to run under a deep throw later, allowing a defender to knock it down and walking a little gingerly after the play. That bears watching. Oliver Mitchell, the freshman from Karr, got open for catches a few times.
The quarterbacks, who have been generally sharp, missed a few throws in 7-on-7. The wind, which was gusting to 25 miles per hour, likely affected some throws. Finley threw low for an open Lewis and Semonza missed badly low for tight end LeRon Husbands before completing a touchdown pass to Preston. I do not have a pecking order in my head for the QBs yet. It's too early.
The highlight in 11 on 11 was when Leary scrambled to his right a la Darian Mensah, except Mensah more often drifted to his left, and hit Lewis on the sideline with little room. Semonza hit Garrett Mmahat, whom I hesitate to say has been productive over the first two practice. I hesitate because he has impressed me a lot in practice over the past two years, and Sumrall even singled him out as a ball player early in camp last fall, but like Rattan in the past on defense, it never has translated into a game for the former quarterback who never had played wideout until he switched in fall camp of 2023. Finely threw through traffic to complete a pass to Mitchell before Leary hit Lewis over the middle. I have no idea how the receiving depth chart is going to shape out. Sumrall singled it as his biggest concern entering spring drills, with no truly proven guy but a lot of candidates vying to be starters.
When the pads aren't on, it is hard to judge running backs, but early-enrolling freshman Javin Gordo has popped out in the first week. He looks quick and decisive. I really haven't noticed Jamauri McClure much through two practices, which is a little surprising and I expect will not be the case for much longer.
Former Tulane OL coach Cody Kennedy stopped by practice to catch up with new passing game coordinator Will Hall, who brought him to Tulane when he was hired as offensive coordinator after the 2018 season. I had a great relationship with both of them when they were on staff, so Kennedy and I talked for several minutes. He said the talent on this roster is so much better than the group he and Hall inherited in 2019, saying Tulane is getting the guys that Houston and UCF used to get when they dominated the AAC, adding the only AAC team that compared to Tulane in talent now was Memphis.
Dontae Fleming is out of eligibility, but he has hung around practice both days to watch.
Three injured players were doing exercises in the stands when I arrived, and a fourth was on the sideline with a boot on his right foot. The guys in the stands were walk-on tight end DJ Cicero, Albany transfer DB KC Eziomume and No. 61`, who is not listed on the roster. The player with the boot was FAU wide receiver transfer Omari Hayes.
I was wrong about being the only media guy there Thursday. Three of the four local TV stations were represented, with WDSU the exception. Sumrall, Machado and Arnold Barnes spoke after practice, and I will have their transcriptions up at some point today.
"Trey already had graduated, is working on his master's and he has decider to be done playing football, Sumrall said. "It's something that when the injury happened and you get an older guy like that who already has his degree in hand, they have decisions to make. We support Trey fully. Great guy. Would have loved to have had him back. Was not anything like we're like, hey, you need to leave. Love Trey. Mississippi guy. Great kid. Had his degree in hand and was wrapping up his master's so just felt like it was in his heart to move on and go do life as opposed to keep playing football, which no judgment in that al all."
Tuggle is a loss because he was slated to start last year at left tackle before his ACL injury near the end of spring drills. That spot is no longer open because of Derrick Graham, but Tuggle certainly could have been in the mix at right tackle. His departure leaves Tulane with two linemen who have significant experience in Green Wave uniforms--Graham and Shadre Hurst. The other 15 practicing in the spring are either young or transfers.
It was chilly and very windy Thursday morning, but the practice was much more lively than Tuesday's, which was a little flat. This one had the typical Sumrall-coached energy, and the defense made a lot of big plays. Safety Jack Tchienchou jumped a route for a pick six against TJ Finley in 11-on-11, and cornerback E'Zaiah Shine recovered a fumble for a score after a botched exchange between Finley and a running back whose number I did not catch. Finley immediately dropped down to do push-ups after the interception, but it was a really good play by Tchienchou, whom I believe will be an All-AAC player in the fall. There also was a touchdown in 7-on7 when Jahiem Johnson stepped in front of a pass from walk-on Jakson Judge and ran to the end zone. Johnson has looked good in the first week, and he is a guy that was healthy all last spring and still ended up being outplayed by Rishi Rattan. He's not the same player now. It's too early to get a handle on the depth chart as guys rotate in and out, but Johnson and Pleasant would be my first-team cornerbacks at the moment with Shine, Armani Cargo and Wofford transfer Isaiah Wadsworth in the picture. The nickelbacks--spears in this staff's terminology--are Javion White, Jaydon Lewis and East Central University transfer Tavare Smith. The starting safeties are Tchienchou and Bailey Despanie, with Kevin Adams, Joshua Moore and Chase Green competing for roles.
Jesus Machado and Chris Rodgers were playing together at linebacker Thursday, and later Jean Claude Joseph joined Machado. Even though he has been 100-percent cleared and even could have come back at the end of last season, I'm not sure Machado really feels 100 percent. We talked to him after practice, but he never has been a good talker, so it was hard to get a read. Obviously Sam Howard and Dickson Agu will play big roles there, too. The tallest linebacker out there is Missouri State transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson, who is listed at 6-5, 230. I can't recall seeing a Tulane linebacker that tall.
The offensive linemen on the same unit as Graham and Hurst were Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at guard and Reese Baker at right tackle. Another unit from left to right was Liberty transfer Jordan Hall, who strangely is listed as a Georgia transfer on the roster we were given, Appalachian State transfer Jack Hollifield, FIU transfer John Bock at center, Nicholls transfer Robbie Pizzolato and Indiana State transfer Jude McCoskey. I also saw Hollifield at center some unless I wrote it down wrong.
Bryce Bohanon has not done much on the field in his Tulane career, but he has looked a lot better in the first week. He made a nice cut to get open for a pass in 1-on-1 drills and had a long catch-and-run on a throw from Donovan Leary. Getting separation has been his problem, but it looks like he will have a better chance of making an impact in the fall. Kentucky transfer Anthony Brown-Stephens has a nice catch on a deep out, and Louisville transfer Jimmy Calloway scored on a pass from Finley. Zycarl Lewis left Smith on the ground with a sharp move. The throw of the day came from Leary to Shazz Preston on a fade when he had only a half-step of separation and the ball hit him in the hands running full speed in the corner of the end zone. Kadin Semonza talked about the chip on his shoulder Tuesday trying to prove doubters wrong because of his short stature, but Leary came across as the guy with the real chip on his shoulder. He felt like he should have earned more playing time at Illinois than he received.
Sidney Mbanasor, who looked good Tuesday, dropped a TD pass Thursday, then pulled up as he tried to run under a deep throw later, allowing a defender to knock it down and walking a little gingerly after the play. That bears watching. Oliver Mitchell, the freshman from Karr, got open for catches a few times.
The quarterbacks, who have been generally sharp, missed a few throws in 7-on-7. The wind, which was gusting to 25 miles per hour, likely affected some throws. Finley threw low for an open Lewis and Semonza missed badly low for tight end LeRon Husbands before completing a touchdown pass to Preston. I do not have a pecking order in my head for the QBs yet. It's too early.
The highlight in 11 on 11 was when Leary scrambled to his right a la Darian Mensah, except Mensah more often drifted to his left, and hit Lewis on the sideline with little room. Semonza hit Garrett Mmahat, whom I hesitate to say has been productive over the first two practice. I hesitate because he has impressed me a lot in practice over the past two years, and Sumrall even singled him out as a ball player early in camp last fall, but like Rattan in the past on defense, it never has translated into a game for the former quarterback who never had played wideout until he switched in fall camp of 2023. Finely threw through traffic to complete a pass to Mitchell before Leary hit Lewis over the middle. I have no idea how the receiving depth chart is going to shape out. Sumrall singled it as his biggest concern entering spring drills, with no truly proven guy but a lot of candidates vying to be starters.
When the pads aren't on, it is hard to judge running backs, but early-enrolling freshman Javin Gordo has popped out in the first week. He looks quick and decisive. I really haven't noticed Jamauri McClure much through two practices, which is a little surprising and I expect will not be the case for much longer.
Former Tulane OL coach Cody Kennedy stopped by practice to catch up with new passing game coordinator Will Hall, who brought him to Tulane when he was hired as offensive coordinator after the 2018 season. I had a great relationship with both of them when they were on staff, so Kennedy and I talked for several minutes. He said the talent on this roster is so much better than the group he and Hall inherited in 2019, saying Tulane is getting the guys that Houston and UCF used to get when they dominated the AAC, adding the only AAC team that compared to Tulane in talent now was Memphis.
Dontae Fleming is out of eligibility, but he has hung around practice both days to watch.
Three injured players were doing exercises in the stands when I arrived, and a fourth was on the sideline with a boot on his right foot. The guys in the stands were walk-on tight end DJ Cicero, Albany transfer DB KC Eziomume and No. 61`, who is not listed on the roster. The player with the boot was FAU wide receiver transfer Omari Hayes.
I was wrong about being the only media guy there Thursday. Three of the four local TV stations were represented, with WDSU the exception. Sumrall, Machado and Arnold Barnes spoke after practice, and I will have their transcriptions up at some point today.
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