Tulane Football Coach Jon Sumrall Shows Most Valuable Trait in Recruiting Haul

In the current age of college football, head coaches are in a constant state of recruiting current and future players on the roster.

While a lot of attention is paid to immediate talent in the transfer portal, the foundation of a program is through high school recruiting classes.

Tulane Green Wave football coach Jon Sumrall has his finger on the pulse of the importance of that, and that’s a large reason why he was coveted by multiple Power Four schools in the last coaching carousel.

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However, he elected to remain uptown, and the Green Wave’s massive recruiting hall over the weekend showed why.

It’s challenging for head coaches to sell a future to recruits that might not include them leading the way, and Sumrall has admitted that his trajectory comes up often with recruits.

But as he told Pete Nakos of On3 Sports (subscription required), Tulane may be better positioned than several Power Four programs.

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“And as I look at things, this job in a lot of ways could be better than some Power Four jobs,” Sumrall said. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, we’ve got everything we need here, resource-wise, in a lot of ways, to continue to be what we want to be. We’ve got to continue to grow and push the envelope in certain areas to keep moving forward. We can’t stay stagnant.”

That was made clear with the commitments of four-star wide receiver Trez Davis and three-star trio defensive lineman Jordyn Crites, offensive lineman Noah Abebe, and tight end Colby Simpson.

That brings the Green Wave’s 2026 recruiting class up to nine members on 247 Sports, with one four-star and seven three-star commits.

There are several question marks on the team this upcoming season. Mainly, who the next starting quarterback will be for Tulane between Kadin Semonza, Donovan Leary, and Brendan Sullivan after losing Darian Mensah.

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They have to find a lot of production to replace running back Makhi Hughes, along with several other departed starters from last season.

After a 9-5 finish in the 2024 season and a loss in the American Conference Championship game, the exodus of so many starters could demoralize a program.

It’s seemed to light a fire under Sumrall uptown, but not with an overfocus on short-term transfer portal rentals.

One of Sumrall and his staff’s best traits is their stellar recruiting skills. More importantly, they demonstrated last season that they are committed to developing young players on the field.

That goes a long way, even in the era of NIL, and it’s led to a burst of young talent wanting to join one of the best Group of Five programs in the nation.

For more Tulane news, head over to Tulane Green Wave On SI.