Tulane Football Blog

I was really hoping I would not have to write this article. I struggled to pen a goodbye to Willie Fritz and ultimately decided not to hit publish. My thoughts were scattered and honestly I was too heartbroken to write a good article. Yesterday was an incredibly emotional day for the Tulane community, but it is now Monday morning, and we all must go back to work including AD David Harris. President Mike Fitts said we will have a head coach within the week. I expect it to be even sooner than that given the portal is open and the rumor mill is flying.

I expect the committee that picked Harris will have a heavy hand in this given he is still an employee of the university of Northern Iowa. That tells me one thing, we will hire a sitting head coach. The head honchos wanted a sitting AD and will want a sitting head coach so who could it be? Let’s get into the possibilities.

Jon Sumrall, Troy HC

After leading Troy to the best season in its FBS history, Sumrall followed it up with another 11 win season, another conference title and a Birmingham Bowl appearance against Duke. In his first season at Troy, the Trojans finished with the second-best turnaround nationally, sound familiar? Can’t think of who was first, oh yeah it was Willie Fritz and Tulane. In addition to mimicking Tulane’s turnaround success, Sumrall also worked at Tulane.

In 2013, Sumrall was a crucial part of Tulane’s run to the New Orleans Bowl as the Green Wave finished second in the nation with 35 forced turnovers. It was Tulane’s first bowl game since 2002 and third since 1988. Tulane finished fourth nationally with 16 fumble recoveries, sixth with 19 interceptions, 22nd nationally in total defense (352.1), 13th in sacks per game (2.92) and 11th in red zone defense (73.5 percent) that year.

Everyone who knows Jon Sumrall knows his dream job is to lead his alma mater and former employer, the Kentucky Wildcats. That job is not currently open as Stoops turned down Texas A&M. Sumrall is reported to currently make $825,000 a year. Tulane was reported to be willing pay up to $4.5 million to keep Willie Fritz. Safe to assume they would offer Jon a massive raise.

This would be a slam dunk hire, and I know it would go a long way to mending the broken hearts of thousands of green wave fans. He is the first choice and the best choice.

I should stop the list here because I really do believe it’s a list of one, but the blog is about throwing around ideas and possibilities. I will give you two more for reading this far.

Jason Candle, Toledo HC

Here at Wave after Wave Blog, we LOVE maction. In seven seasons as Toledo’s head coach, Candle’s record is 54-32 with two MAC Championship titles and six bowl appearances. No team in the Mid-American Conference has won more games than Toledo during Candle’s tenure. He led Toledo to a MAC title last year and fell just short this year losing in the title game to Miami of Ohio Saturday. Wave fans would agree that a title last year and a conference second place in 2023 is a strong run of performance. Candle is 20-7 in his last two seasons at Toledo including a victory in the boca raton bowl. He is the two time Mac coach of the year.

Candle has had eight Rockets selected in the NFL Draft since 2017. In addition, Toledo has had the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC five times during Candle’s tenure. These are both extremely import credentials for a coach looking to keep the green wave in the ascendancy. Recruiting begets winning and winning is all that matters regardless of what our friends on the college football playoff committee think

Candle currently makes $1.1 million dollars and so much like Sumrall, he may be in line for a big raise. At age 44, he’s ready to make the jump from Maction to a more ballyhooed conference and the recruiting hot bed of New Orleans. Candle is a rising star and would be a fine second choice if Harris can’t reel in the big fish.

Troy Calhoun Air Force HC

File this under the wild card, not reported by any major outlet or follower of the program category. The David Harris hiring is very telling of the mindset of Tulanes power brokers. Harris was a sitting AD since 2016. Calhoun has been a head coach since 2007. Many will say Calhoun is at his alma mater and will never leave, probably so but we just saw Jonathan Smith do this very same thing at Oregon state. I don’t think this one’s likely, but I also thought Willie Fritz would never leave. As I try to get inside the head of Doug Hertz, Calhoun came to mind as a wild card. He’s a damn good football coach and operates a wining program with even more restrictions on recruiting than Tulane has. Few others can say this.

Calhoun is the first coach in the 100-plus year history of service academy football to lead teams to a post-season bid in his first six years.

Calhoun, who won his 100th game during the 2020 season, has led the program to an 11-win season (2019), four 10-win seasons (2014, 2016, 2021, 2022), two nine-win seasons (2007, 2010) and four with eight wins (2008, 2009, 2015, 2023). The Falcons have won two Mountain West Mountain Division titles (2015, 2021) and played in the championship game in 2015.

There are good candidates out there and the sky is not falling. The Tulane administration needs to act fast and get one of the many out there. Ideally, it will be Jon Sumrall but if it is Troy Calhoun you can guarantee I am the only one who thought it possible. Let the games begin.