How Tulane Could Approach NIL and Transfer Portal After Losing Multiple Starters
While Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall tried to retain star quarterback Darian Mensah in the transfer portal, the football team ultimately lost several starters to Power 4 opportunities and for NIL reasons.
After cultivating Mensah from redshirt freshman to starter poised to lead a College Football Playoff run before the season-ending losing streak, Tulane football was rewarded with a trip back to square one when he transferred to the Duke Blue Devils.
Sumrall was able to utilize the NIL funds set aside for Mensah to bring in 30 portal players, including three competing quarterbacks, but what if there was a better solution to player movement that didn’t torpedo programs losing talent in the transfer portal?
In a recent interview with Josh Pate’s College Football Show, Sumrall opened up on the issue of roster retention and how to better position teams to recoup their losses.
After Mensah departed, several key players followed suit; Makhi Hughes to the Oregon Ducks, Alex Bauman to the Miami Hurricanes and Parker Peterson to the Wisconsin Badgers.
Sumrall meets with players prior to the transfer portal window opening, hoping to persuade them of the value created for themselves with the Green Wave, but understands and supports the current college football landscape.
It doesn’t make the loss of multiple starters easier to swallow.
Sumrall was candid with Pate on a potential resolution to the poaching of talent.
“I think there should be some restrictions, maybe, on the movement,” Sumrall said. “If a coach wants to leave a job, there's a buyout involved. Well, how about we have maybe a buyout on a player if he decides to leave? So, if he wants to transfer up, then they have to monetarily pay us to get him out of the deal.”
The idea is simple and sound.
Why shouldn’t a team that evaluated, recruited, signed and developed a star player and top NIL earner be compensated for those efforts?
The execution, however, is layered with complexities, which Sumrall acknowledges.
A talent or development fee would likely bring legal issues into play due to the association that is closer to employment. It’s something Sumrall eventually sees down the pipeline, though. As things stand, it would likely fall under proscribed pay-for-play.
The Green Wave have added considerable depth and proven players in the transfer portal with the NIL funds they have. Those resources have softened the blow of the aforementioned losses.
At quarterback, Kadin Semonza, TJ Finley, and Donovan Leary are set to compete. Running backs Maurice Turner and Zuberi Mobley join the room with Arnold Barnes and promising redshirt freshman Jamari McClure.
One former competitor at quarterback, Ty Thompson, is now a tight end, alongside incoming players Justyn Reid and Leron Husbands.
While Peterson was a nose tackle, he initially started as a defensive end. Defensive coordinator Greg Gasparato and defensive line coach Landius Wilkerson converted him to the interior where he shined.
Therefore, several incoming transfers could shuffle around; defensive tackles Derrick Shepard, Trevon McAlpine and Eliyt Nairne, defensive ends Santana Hopper and Harvey Dyson and bandit Maurice Westmoreland.
Perhaps they could’ve landed a bigger fish at a premium role.
Perhaps the accumulation of several productive players was Sumrall’s plan.
It falls in line with a philosophy of NIL that spreads across the locker room and that is compatible with Sumrall’s perspective of supporting players being paid.
“There’s movement with athletes, and I’m not against it,” Sumrall said. “There’s payment for players. I love it. I'm for our players getting taken care of. I want them to be able to make money. It's great. I don't think any coach who is against NIL really is for their players.”
Sumrall has a refreshing outlook on the NIL landscape for a head coach who experienced painful effects of the portal and player movement closely, positioning Tulane football to move forward with leadership willing to adapt with college football.
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Maddy Hudak is the deputy editor for Tulane on Sports Illustrated and the radio sideline reporter for their football team. Maddy is an alumnus of Tulane University, and graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She went on to obtain a Master of Legal Studies while working as a research coordinator at the VA Hospital, and in jury consulting. During this time, Maddy began covering the New Orleans Saints with SB Nation, and USA Today. She moved to New Orleans in 2021 to pursue a career in sports and became Tulane's sideline reporter that season. She enters her fourth year with the team now covering the program on Sports Illustrated, and will use insights from features and interviews in the live radio broadcast. You can follow her on X at @MaddyHudak_94, or if you have any questions or comments, she can be reached via email at maddy.hudak1@gmail.com