Tulane Green Wave Coach Jon Sumrall Uses Unique Analogy To Sum Up Team’s Play
The levels of optimism around the Tulane Green Wave football team are high coming off a dominating performance against the South Florida Bulls in Week 5.
A 45-10 victory is exactly the kind of start Tulane was looking for in their American Athletic Conference opener at Yulman Stadium. Riding a two-game winning streak, their record on the season is now 3-2.
Emphasizing how important it is to stick to assignments, head coach Jon Sumrall shared a unique analogy when explaining what he wants to see from his team in the coming weeks.
“People love Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s because they are really consistent,” Sumrall said, via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “You can be in Hong Kong and order a Big Mac, and you can be in New Orleans and order a Big Mac, and you’re going to get a Big Mac. We have to become the group that shows up and you know exactly what you’re getting. We’re getting a lot of pats on the back, but the same people patting us on the back will be dog cussing us if we don’t handle our business.”
Week 6 will present the Green Wave with a chance to show their head coach they can consistently get the job done with a visit to the UAB Blazers being on deck.
Their second AAC opponent enters the game with a 1-3 record and 0-1 in conference. It is the same record they had last season when the Blazers gave Tulane all they could handle in a 35-23 win.
At one point, UAB led that game 20-7 as their quarterback Jacob Zeno was playing at a high level. He completed 77.1 percent of his passes in that contest.
Will a repeat performance be had this weekend, as national media members are beginning to buy in on them? Or will they heed the words of Sumrall, bringing the same consistent approach they brought to the table in their blowout over USF last week?
“I’ve done everything I can to try to get our guys’ attention and help them understand in this game you have every seven days to get promoted or exposed,” Sumrall said. “If we are not ready to play, we will get exposed really badly in this game, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”
Some undisciplined and disorganized play in the first few weeks of the season contributed to the 1-2 start. Even though they blew out the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 52-0 in the opener, Sumrall was not thrilled with how his team looked.
Some of the issues that plagued them in Week 1 carried over into losses in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Kansas State Wildcats and Oklahoma Sooners. Had they played cleaner games, their resume would look vastly different with a victory over a major conference foe.
Of course, that needs to be put behind the team. Focus needs to be on what lies ahead and handling business.
In Week 6, that is a UAB team looking for any spark to get their season on track. If the Green Wave does what Sumrall has stressed, they will not provide their opponents a chance to gain confidence, picking up another impressive win before heading into a Week 7 bye.
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.