Tulane Green Wave Need To Balance Urgency And Patience In New Quarterback Search
As the Tulane Green Wave prepare to play the Florida Gators in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday, the coaching staff has dual duties on the road.
Despite flying to Tampa, Fl. on Monday, coach Jon Sumrall has kept the Green Wave active in the portal, not letting up during bowl game preparation.
They announced a plethora of signings on the same day, reloading at several positions of need, including TJ Finley, a quarterback from Western Kentucky. The biggest question mark remains the next starter under center with Darian Mensah departing for Duke, and Finley's addition doesn't serve as a final answer.
Quarterback Ty Thompson will start against the Gators on Friday, but is expected to enter the portal afterwards to explore his options. Sumrall acknowledged the attractiveness of the role following three straight conference championship appearances and success at the position in recent years.
Tulane has been linked to several quarterbacks in the transfer portal. UCF's Mikey Keene visited over the weekend; Maverick McIver from Abilene Christian has a visit scheduled for Friday. NIU transfer Ethan Hampton de-committed from Wake Forest and reopened his recruitment with a visit to the Green Wave lined up among other programs.
It's a necessity in this era for nearly every quarterback-needy program to conduct numerous visits with potential prospects, akin to a dating reality television show. As Wake Forest learned, no commitment is final until the paperwork is signed. Tulane experienced this with receiver Cyrus Allen, who made an announcement post with the team, only to delete it and later sign with Cincinnati within the day.
Coaches must continue recruiting their own roster in addition to players through the portal, resulting in an uncomfortable, constant state of flux.
As they learned last season, there's no proven product inside the portal. Thompson was expected to compete with Kai Horton for the starting job, and Mensah came out of nowhere. Neither Horton nor Thompson had real experience outside of a few starts in place of Pratt for Horton.
The timing of a team's bowl game compounds a search. It's the most highly coveted position, and every player Tulane courts in the portal has multiple suitors. The team was in New Orleans this time last year due to the Military Bowl taking place a week after their contest in Florida.
It's disadvantageous to lose the ability to have campus visits with all hands on deck. If their portal targets withstand through Friday, they flip to having the edge of nothing but time to search for the future under center.
Jon Sumrall has lived by a philosophy that doesn't promise based on potential, star-rating, or anything besides their production on the field. It's how Mensah beat out Thompson and Horton. Many programs may pursue their next quarterbacks with less transparency, but those to whom Sumrall's message resonates will be the ideal fit.
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