Tulane Training Camp Starts Journey to Find Their Identity

Tulane kicks off training camp with a lot of new players, and they’ll need to find cohesion and a team identity.

Credit: Tulane Athletics/Football /

The Tulane Green Wave have made a roar this offseason under new coach Jon Sumrall, but they need to put the final pieces together on the field.

Training camp begins the monthlong countdown to the season opener at Yulman Stadium. That’s the amount of time the team has left to find an identity.

They may have settled on a gritty mentality and a blue-collar mindset to start.

It’s a phrase Jon Sumrall has used to describe the team he wants to take the field in his first season as Tulane’s head coach. New center Vincent Murphy explained that mentality to me from his perspective in Arlington, Texas.

“I feel like I've always been blue-collar,” Murphy told Tulane on Sports Illustrated. “I like being blue collar. I always said the phrase, I said it earlier, I pack my lunch, and I go to work. I'm not looking for people to congratulate me. I'm not looking for people to pat me on my back.”

“I'm looking to go to work, hurt, injured or whatnot. I'm looking to go to work, do my job and all today, the thing was we're going to be tough. We're going to be gritty as hell. We're looking to get after people. And that's a big thing with this identity of Tulane.”

It’s something he sees in the running back group his unit is tasked to protect just as much as the quarterback.

“It’s a privilege to have a really good running back,” Murphy said. “If you talk to Makhi Hughes or any of those guys in that room, they don’t joke around. They’re very serious. They don't have a lot to say. They take their job very personal.”

Murphy spends a lot of time with the group on and off the field, because they share a similar mentality and grit.

“The big thing with them is, they want to leave a legacy. They want to leave something behind. Not just for them, but their last name is important to them. They want to leave that behind for their loved ones, whoever it is. But they want to be remembered, especially at Tulane.”

“That’s how I feel. And they’re very blue collar just like me,” Murphy continued. “They aren’t looking for guys to rah-rah them or bring them up. They come in here, they motivate themselves, and they get after it every day.”