When Shane Battier famously misquoted Mark Twain: “Reports of my demise were premature”, who knew he was talking about Green Wave football? It’s hard to explain how much joy the last few weeks have brought me, but I’m going to give it a try.
When Willie Fritz left, a cotton bowl trophy sized void was left on Ben Weiner drive. I sat in MSY miserable, wearing rain soaked shoes from the SMU loss the night before. It seemed like the death of Green Wave football. An aberration across the sky that had disappeared as quickly as its 23-4 run had come. To put it lightly, it was a rough week.
Hope came in the form of a familiar face. The hottest young coaching candidate on the market, one of maybe 3 men who had won as many games and more conference titles than Willie in the last two years. Former Tulane co-defensive coordinator Jon Sumrall returned to New Orleans to keep the program on its meteoric rise.
All of us were excited to see what Coach Sumrall could bring to New Orleans. I can confidently say I don’t think any of us would think his impact would be this immediate and this drastic on the recruiting front.
Willie Fritz always said “We are not going to get the 4 and 5 star recruits. We have to develop the 3 and 2 star recruits.”
Coach Sumrall emphatically told Willie Fritz, you sure about that??? on January 5th. On that day, 5⭐️ quarterback Ty Thompson declared Tulane to be his next school.
Many thought WOW this is an awesome get for Tulane, but surely they blew their entire NIL budget on one player. With so many resources presumably spent on one player, can they even afford a team around him?
Once again, Sumrall said hold my beer. He quickly rattled off quality commitments from his last stop, Troy, headlined by Caleb Ransaw. Ransaw was offered by Alabama, Tennessee and USC amongst others. I don’t remember the last time a recruit picked Tulane over those SEC and Big 10(?) stalwarts. I’m sure there was one, but I’ve only been on this earth for 3 decades and change.
Speaking of the SEC, Sumrall looked to another previous stop on his coaching journey for his next big get. Sure enough, he brought in a regular player from the vaunted southeastern conference. Jalen Geiger saw action in 11 games at Kentucky including a 69 yard scoop and score against Ball State.
Names like Ransaw and Geiger will go a long way in replacing names like Monroe and Robinson in the secondary. Sumrall and his staff saw our holes and immediately got to work on filling them via the portal.
Still, it felt like we needed receivers to replace the likes of Keys, Jackson and Brazzell. Names like Barber, Larvadain and Farrier came and went. It seemed like despite an amazing offseason thus far, we’d still fall short at our main position of need, receiver.
Receiver after receiver was linked to the wave with seemingly no commits coming our way. A few receivers with big potential committed in Terez Traynor and Jaylon Griffin. Some excitement was there, but you got the sense they had to have something BIGGER coming.
Today, the flood gates opened. Not 1, Not 2 but 3 massive recruits committing to Tulane. It’s hard to articulate how monumental today felt.
Let’s start with shazz. Quick hat tip for selecting the bacon wave edit, a man of class.
The 6’1 200 pound local product was ranked as a Top 50 Recruit in the ‘22 Class (No. 6 WR). He chose Alabama out of high school. 24/7 projected him as a high-major recruit who could become a multi-year impact starter with long-term NFL draft potential. When we say recruit the boot, this is exactly what we are talking about.
The stud from Saint James returns home to form a dynamic duo with Ty Thompson. It’s pretty rare you have a 5 star throwing to a 5 star. This is reserved for the Alabama’s, the Clemsons, the Michigans of the world. Add Tulane to that list.
The next one was arguably an even bigger coup. A lot of non-traditional power schools have made big splashes in the transfer portal. It is easier to lure a kid who has struggled to receive playing time than it is to grab a highly touted prospect out of high school. One more time, Sumrall let the non-believers know. Enter Jaymoney.
In addition to winning in the portal, Sumrall got greedy and flipped a 4 ⭐️ from blue blood Auburn. Lewis won the Alabama 4A 100 and 200 meter championship as a junior. In addition to Auburn, he received offers from Florida state, Tennessee, Colorado and dozens of other household names. An amazing addition to our secondary and proof that high school kids much like transfers see what Sumrall is building.
The day was coming to a close, sources around the twittesphere bristled with the possibility of one more bombshell. The cherry on top, the perfect end to this glorious day. The final commit of the day was a Tulane hero without ever stepping foot on campus. All Tulane fans remember what I’m talking about.
USC’s Mario Williams called for a fair catch, but fumbled the ball out of bounds at the 1-yard line with just 4:07 left. The rest is history.
Mario, you were beloved by wave fans then and you will be even more beloved by them this fall. We are so excited to have you.
I’d give you a blurb about Mario Williams but you know who he is. A household name for all that watch college football from the big 12 to the pac 12.
High school rankings are what they are. That being said, Mario Williams was ranked higher than Marvin Harrison Junior and Ty Thompson was ranked higher than Drake Maye just a few short years ago. Make of that what you will.
This is the dawn of a new day. This is the winter of Jon Sumrall.
Tulane Football Blog 
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