How Tulane's Jon Sumrall is Navigating the Transfer Portal's Turnover Churn

It’s been an offseason priority for Sumrall and his staff to instill their standards and expectations upon a largely new roster. “That is a tremendous challenge when half of your team is brand new,” he said.

Sumrall did well to counter departures with acquisitions of his own, like running back Maurice Turner (Louisville) and edge-rusher Mo Westmoreland (UTEP). The Green Wave also led Athlon Sports’ preseason American all-conference team with 15 selections, including returning starters like tackle Derrick Graham, guard Shadre Hurst, defensive lineman Kameron Hamilton, linebacker Sam Howard and safety Bailey Despanie. 

Tulane brought in four new quarterbacks to fight for the starting job: Jake Retzlaff (BYU), Brendan Sullivan (Iowa), Donovan Leary (Illinois) and Kadin Semonza (Ball State). Sumrall has yet to name a starter and has said he may drag that decision out until just before kickoff against the Wildcats, though an injury to Sullivan may have simplified his decision.

Retzlaff is the projected starter after Mensah was lured away to Duke, reportedly for $8 million over two years. A reunion with Mensah is on deck in a few weeks when the Blue Devils visit Yulman Stadium on Sept. 13.

“I really focus a lot on what we do have, and that’s in any area, even going down to our roster,” Sumrall says. “We lost a lot out of the portal last year. Our team had some individuals that had opportunities, they chose to move on — I don’t spend a minute of my day worrying about that.”

Before he became a head coach, Sumrall was on the Green Wave staff from 2012-14. He was there for some lean years, like a two-win season the year he arrived, but he also saw how the school rallied around the 2013 team when Tulane went to its first bowl game in over a decade.

Sumrall said the recent resources committed to football have allowed the Green Wave an opportunity to be competitive. Everything from the construction of an on-campus stadium to strengthening support for the players has made bowl games — and conference championship appearances — a common occurrence for Tulane.

Tulane is in the process of building an indoor practice facility, and Sumrall says retaining coaches is further evidence of the investment in the program. Bringing back coordinators Joe Craddock (offense) and Greg Gasparato (defense) is critical in the face of so much turnover elsewhere. The Green Wave also signed Sumrall to a contract extension in December.

With a background in the SEC as a player and assistant coach, Sumrall’s name comes up a lot with potential openings in the conference, including at his alma mater, Kentucky.

“This profession, if you win a lot, people talk about where are you going next? And if you lose a lot, they’re talking about how can they get rid of you,” Sumrall said. “And I’d much rather deal with them trying to talk about us winning a lot.”

Everything is in front of Tulane, with a team in place that’s capable of winning the American. And with no clear frontrunner in the Group of 5 this season after No. 25 Boise State’s season-opening loss to South Florida, that might just be good enough for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

A trip to the CFP was on the table last season, but things fell apart with three consecutive losses to end the year, including in the conference championship. Sumrall says there were distractions at play, which is why he drove home the importance of commitment this offseason.

“Everybody has to be committed to this team and not put one ounce of focus into anything else,” Sumrall says. “‘What could be next year? What could the portal do? What could happen?' Like, no. This team. This team.”