Tulane Green Wave Seek Road Edge Under Important Quality From Vibrant Coach

Tulane Green Wave hits one of the hardest road stretches in the country and can lean on energy they draw from coaching in critical moments at Charlotte.

Credit: Parker Waters - Tulane Athletics

The Tulane Green Wave's 14th consecutive conference victory demonstrated a key trend in their dominating first half against North Texas: they are a team well-versed in early starts.

While they face the opposite challenge Thursday night on the road at Charlotte, the Green Wave's energy shouldn't be of concern, as evidenced through their 3-1 record with 11 a.m. starts. Head coach Jon Sumrall is the source of that strength and juice. 

Starting strong with vibrancy is critical for Tulane as one of two teams in the nation to endure a short stretch on the road back to back.

After the defense's coming out party against Rice with five turnovers, I asked Tyler Grubbs what was different this season. They run the same base they did under Shiel Wood with Greg Gasparato, yet the production and takeaways are night and day. 

Grubbs' response set the tone of a team with leadership that starts at the top.

"It starts from the head coach always, his energy and emphasis to be successful and to want to be great. There's really no fall off from him to the coordinators to the position coaches to the GAs. They are all just as high-energy (as the head coach). Everyone sees the emphasis that he wants to win, and everyone feels that as players. It's just wanting to be great, wanting to make plays, wanting to make it to the next level. It's energy that starts with the head coach and filters through the coaches and players."

The simulation of exclusive morning call times contributes to Tulane's success on Saturday mornings. The challenge against the 49ers is applying the converse: on the road at night. 

That starts with the palpable daily intensity at practice, which is, frankly, more difficult at 8 a.m. than a conference matchup under the lights on Thursday night.

Grubbs' assessment of the trickle-down effect is apparent in his position coach, linebackers coach Tayler Polk. Polk sees the clear translation of his noteworthy energy to a competitive edge.

"Definitely for these 11 a.m. games that we're playing, it is the biggest advantage. Whenever I've been at other places with early kicks and we weren't a morning practice team, and not being around a staff with a whole lot of energy, you pay the price. We have an advantage every single time we play at 11. Our guys are resilient and tough. They feed off our energy, but I feed off them."

Polk, while admittedly exhausted after that practice from a notably excited position group, sees the payoff. Most importantly, the players have demonstrated this through their performance on the field. They've also shown it when the lights are off and nobody's watching.

Grubbs has taken an exponential leap as a player under the coaching of Polk, Gasparato, and Sumrall. His kinship with Polk sticks out most. He spoke about their preparation and nightly walkthroughs at 6 p.m. in the meeting rooms or the club inside the stadium.

"If you're around Tulane, you'll find us at 6 p.m. doing nightly walkthroughs with Coach Polk."

Hearing about that work behind the scenes gives color to the bonds displayed on the field in that group, and chemistry at linebacker is critical. Polk endorsed Grubbs and his counterpart, Sam Howard, as two of the best leaders he's been around. 

"They set the tone for us every single day. That is their best quality because that's what makes us go as a linebacker group, as a defense, and as a team. And they can legitimately tackle the guy with the ball. That's an underrated quality for linebackers. Everybody's athletic, but they're finishers."

Jon Sumrall wanted a player-led team. In setting the tone with vibrancy, urgency, and consistently chasing greatness, that quality is instilled in his players. That trait may be the equalizer in a difficult road game in a short week against the Charlotte 49ers.