There is a ton to unpack over the past week and a half with the Tulane football team so I wanted to hash out all my thoughts in a clear and concise manner.
First and foremost, the loss in the conference championship game.
1. Outgunned at Army
The scars from last year’s conference championship game loss and subsequent head coaching departure were evident in the way the fan base reacted to this. The team didn’t lose to Army because Sumrall was checked out. He was offended by that notion and rightfully so because it’s completely false. It’s a clean excuse for fans trying to come to terms with the fact that Tulane got outplayed. Can’t win a game when you don’t force a single punt, lose the turnover battle and the time of possession battle. I thought Tulane’s success against Navy would translate, but they were absolutely bullied up front. Tulane fans need to accept that we were not the better team on a cold night in West Point and move on.
2. So Long Sumrall?
The second topic is Sumralls potential departure. Everyone was reading into his allegedly “changed demeanor”, tweets from faceless troll accounts and message board fodder. If the source isn’t a college football reporter, a Tulane insider or a North Carolina insider you can take it with a grain of salt. So many people were doom spiraling before Sumrall even took a meeting with another school. Blame him for being a distraction all you want but many people amplified this distraction by running with false narratives. Let’s clear up a few things about college coaching searches.
It is his agent’s job to entertain other offers and try get the most for his client. When he says that most of the noise doesn’t get to him, I believe him. There have been a lot of leaks with Sumrall between his departure from Troy and his assumed departure from Tulane. It stands to reason that his agent is a fan of using the media to gain negotiating leverage. In this case, he was able to leverage North Carolina’s (amongst others) interest into more money for his staff and additional revenue sharing with Tulane. David Harris answered the bell on these requests, and we kept our football coach.
If Sumrall didn’t want to be here, he would have left instead he leveraged the administration for more money that should help us win in the future. This was a win for Tulane and clear demonstration that David Harris and Gibson Hall are committed to having a winning football program. Sumrall is here to stay and this team will be back better than ever in 2025. This isn’t your father’s Tulane athletics.
3. Mensah Mania comes to an end
This was the toughest pill to swallow for me with the way the season ended. Of course, I wanted to win the Memphis and Army games and go to the college football playoff, but obviously it did not go that way. I was most excited about starting the 2025 season with an entrenched head coach and a returning QB with massive upside. Darian was an incredible story from unheralded red shirt freshman to top QB in the AAC in nearly every statistical category. Miss me with counting stats. Efficiency over volume every single time.
Tulane Twitter deciding that he was a game manager now that he has departed is laughable. Look at Darian’s freshman season vs Mike Pratts senior season. Darian threw 4 more passes than Mike so it’s nearly apples to apples. The numbers are almost identical and honestly for the most part favor Darian. To have zero drop off from arguably the best QB in school history in his senior season to a freshman that has never started before is exceptional. The kid was good, and I’m going to miss him a lot.
Mensah’s return was in jeopardy thanks to his incredible play on the field and growth potential. Strong quarterback play is hard to come by in college football and fetches a hefty sum in the portal. Check out Jeff Duncan and Jesse Dougherty’s columns on the subject if you have not already. Darian signed an NIL agent midway through this year and that’s where the likelihood of his return to Tulane plummeted. Agents are monetarily incentivized to have their clients test the portal.
https://twitter.com/garlandgillen/status/1866228373594259552?s=46&t=G6CcxNfP6WMWVm30ZUjuPg
Tulane made an offer to make him the highest paid player in school history and it was turned down by his agency YMAPAA. They clearly think they can get more on the open market and they may well be right. Feel free to read up on Twitter and draw your own conclusions on Darian’s 24 year old community college graduate agent Noah Reisenfeld. As Sumrall said, once the agents get involved all bets are off.
It is safe to assume that Darian will be a hot commodity on the transfer portal market and land with a household name Power 4 team. I wish Tulane had been afforded the opportunity to match any offer, but that’s just not the way the cookie crumbles in the NIL era. Darian is gone, he’s not coming back. His agents made sure of it. RIP Mensah Mania (April 2024 – December 2024).
In summary, the two most important pieces of the 2025 team entered Sunday night in jeopardy. At the end of the day, retaining Jon Sumrall is a hell of a lot more important than any single player. A strong recruiter and culture builder is what you need in this era where only one season is promised with each player.
The head coach is the constant in today’s game, and we got ourselves one of the best in the business. Look forward to 2025 Wave fans, the future is bright.
Tulane Football Blog 
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