Tulane Football Brought the Wood in Pads
The Tulane Green Wave braved the first week of heat in training camp, and they brought physicality to Saturday’s practice. The team put pads on, and we saw real contact for the first time at Yulman Stadium.
When we saw them put pads on back in spring, the heat rose, and contact turned to scuffles several times. That can sometimes point to a lack of discipline—not for a team that holds that as one of their core values under coach Jon Sumrall.
Football is a violent sport in which defenders have to run full-steam at people, often downhill in open space, and wrap them up with force; where some of the best catches are fights in traffic.
It just goes to show how hard these players are fighting and taking these crucial reps seriously.
August in New Orleans has been as hot and humid as advertised. Every year, the first few days of Tulane camp are a slog. Especially with players not being able to put on helmets during summer workouts. Cramps are to be expected.
Most promisingly, every player who's had one at one point this week got right back on the field as soon as they had their legs under them.
Jon Sumrall was disappointed by a lack of intensity and discipline on a few days of early spring practice.
"I was worried after Saturday did we want to hit anybody?" he said after the first Saturday practice in March.
A few days later, Sumrall halted practice midway through and gathered everyone in the middle of the field. He explained to us afterwards that he expected more out of his players after a lengthy spring break.
"I was not pleased with just the finish, the strain, the hustle, the effort," Sumrall said candidly. "It looked a little lackadaisical and nonchalant for my liking. I think the guys improved some. At the end of practice we extended those drives and played them out. Guys were gassed, but that's how you've got to be ready to play the game. We're trying to extend them a little bit, getting them to blow their lungs out."
"I was disappointed in our mental toughness and our preparedness to fight through some fatigue. And it's a touch warmer than it was when we practiced a couple of weeks ago," he remarked.
I wanted to include that final comment for context of the growth we saw today. That was a temperature jump from about the 50s to high 70s. We've been in an excessive heat warning all week with temperatures starting in the mid 90s.
That didn't stop the intensity we saw on Saturday morning from the Green Wave. Coach Sumrall coaches the values of attitude, toughness, discipline and love, and the team hit on all fronts in Week 1 of training camp.
MADDY HUDAK