Tulane Green Wave Defense Features Strong Traits To Build on in Spring Camp
When the Tulane Green Wave began spring camp this time last year, there were a lot of defensive holes the team had to search for in the second college football transfer portal window.
Tulane football head coach Jon Sumrall has built off those lessons learned in his first season as the team’s head coach in his approach to rebuilding this offseason.
While most of the attention is on the departures on the Green Wave offense, notably starting quarterback and running back, the saying defense wins championships exists for a reason.
The defensive-minded coach sat down with Crescent City Sports to break down every position group ahead of the March 18 practice session that kicks off a critical evaluation period.
He made perhaps his strongest declaration in a simple sentence.
“We are better at edge rusher than we were a year ago,” Sumrall said.
That stands out with the addition of several transfers to replace 13 contributors along the line. It was a position Sumrall has called all but a dire need over the last several offseason periods.
He mentioned it this time last year, and the team did bring in a few players in that second window. It’s a much smaller and more limited one, making reliance on it a poor strategy.
Sumrall made essentially a public announcement to portal players last December as the team prepped for bowl practice, naming edge rushers among the highest needs.
"We clearly need quarterbacks in the portal, we need receivers in the portal, and we need a couple of O-linemen in the portal,” Sumrall said. “This is an advertisement. I need a couple of D-linemen, a couple of edge rushers, and some guys that can cover receivers, some DBs, so if y'all put that in the wanted ads. I don't know if they have wanted ads anymore in the newspaper, but if they do, WANTED: two quarterbacks, two fast receivers, two O-linemen, two edge rushers, and two more cover guys. I sound like On the 12th Day of Christmas. I need all that for next year's team to have a chance to win, so let's have that."
That group won’t shine as much as others in practice sessions, but their traits will in one-on-one drills and how they utilize their hands to shed blocks; aggressiveness will show up in practice as much as on the field if players are locked in.
The other position that is in a notably better place is the secondary. Sumrall was not subtle about wanting more experience at cornerback after the spring game last year.
When the position was upgraded, the quarterback competition immediately changed, and Darian Mensah’s emergence was credible.
Mensah’s first session as a live quarterback remains memorable as he held the same poise and command while needing to flush out the pocket and make decisions quicker.
It’s difficult to conduct a quarterback battle without coverage players that provide a real test and defensive linemen who can, at minimum, disrupt the vision and timing during drills to see how the competitors handle pressure.
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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