Troy Dannen has vacated his office on Ben Weiner Drive and now Tulane must find the athletic director to lead them into the future. Anyone with aspirations in college sports would love to have the job. No matter your feelings on Troy, the job is more attractive because of what he accomplished here and the wave will have no shortage of qualified candidates. The first order of business needs to be realignment as we watch the AACs new members flounder. Let’s get into the contenders.
1. The in house candidate.
Deputy Athletic Director Kortne Gosha
Kortne Gosha joined the Tulane athletics department in May of 2022 as the Senior Associate Athletic Director and promoted to Deputy AD in the spring of 2023. He was Troy’s right hand man for Tulane’s massive turnaround on the football field.
Gosha most recently was working as the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Florida A&M. It was a position he held starting in December of 2019. Gosha laid the groundwork for the school’s landmark decision to move from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). A very relevant accomplishment given our current desire to join the ACC.
I think Gosha would be the easy choice and keep stability in the program. That said, I think change can be good and this is likely the most important decision in Tulane athletics history.
2. The Departed Son
Penn State’s Deputy Director of Athletics Scott Sidwell
Scott Sidwell was a two-year lettermen in baseball at Tulane in 1993 and 1994. Sidwell returned to the Green Wave Athletics Department in September 2000 and served as an associate athletic director for the Green Wave.
Scott Sidwell was named Penn State’s Deputy Director of Athletics for External in February 2019.Under Sidwell’s guidance, Penn State saw record revenues during the 2021 football season.
He has also spearheaded the Lasch Football building renovation and fundraising efforts and is currently orchestrating the Beaver Stadium study and financial analysis to determine the best course of action.
Sidwell’s power 5 pedigree and working with a major football program gets him the interview, but his overseeing on building renovations and maximizing of football revenue make him right for the job. As a native of New Orleans and a Tulane grad, there is no questioning his desire to take this job.
The generous $10 million gift from the Peters family has been earmarked for a new facility. Completion of a state of the art facility will fall on the next AD and Sidwell seems most suited to complete that project. The combination of all the above makes him my favorite candidate for the job.
3. The Son of the Athletic Director
FAU Director of Athletics Brian White
Whether it was the hiring of Tom Herman or the Cinderella run to the final four, there’s been a lot to talk about in Boca Raton since White took the job in 2018.
He was instrumental in one of the more influential changes to FAU Athletics in the fall of 2021, joining the AAC. FAU has also seen facilities upgrades under White’s leadership. The Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence, a $72 million project, opened to rave reviews in 2020. .
White’s family is highly respected in collegiate athletics. His father, Kevin, recently retired from his role as Duke director of athletics. Prior to Duke, he was at Notre Dame and before that, your very own green wave. His oldest brother, Mike, is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Georgia and his brother Danny is director of athletics at the University of Tennessee.
This is a well connected guy. He is a master fundraiser and an overseer of a massive facilities overhaul. He checks all the boxes that Sidwell does with the added strong connections at Duke. Duke is one of the major gatekeepers of the ACC , which I amongst others beleive to be the best future fit for the wave.
White is an awesome candidate for the job but the question is would he leave Florida Atlantic which much like Tulane seems to be very much a program on the rise. The acc connections and experience growing a smaller program to a household name is something that would go a long way at Tulane. He would be me 1b directly behind Sidwell.
4. The Wild Card
executive director of the United Athletic Conference, a new FCS conference
Oliver Luck
If you write an article like this and don’t include a fun wild card candidate, you’re doing it wrong. Do I think Luck will be a legitimate candidate for this job, no. Do I think his name will be thrown around the twittesphere, definitely.
Talk about well connected, if anyone can deliver on conference realignment it’s the king of conference realignment, Oliver Luck. He was hired as a consultant to help navigate the crazy PAC-12 situation. Luck has served as a football executive in multiple places, including as the West Virginia athletic director, vice president for regulatory affairs for the NCAA and commissioner and CEO of the XFL.
In 2021, Luck consulted with the big 12 after Texas and Oklahoma announced their intent to move to the SEC. Two years later, the Big 12 has landed Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and of course Coach Prime as members set to join next season. Luck is one of the most respected minds in college football. If you want to go big Game hunting in this AD search, meet Moby Fucking Dick.
To conclude my picks would be in the following order. Anyone discussed here would do a phenomenal job, and I can’t wait to see who leads the wave going forward.
1. Sidwell
2. White
3. Gosha
Tulane Football Blog 
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