Tulane Meets Important Standard With Fiery Nature in Competitive Practice
The Tulane Green Wave continued to conduct spring camp Thursday in preparation for the college football season, and the intensity stood out.
Tulane could have easily exhibited some brain freeze in their second practice session with high wind chill, but they instead competed to a level that caught the attention of head coach Jon Sumrall.
“I thought today’s energy at practice was a lot better,” Sumrall said. “You could feel the juice a lot more today, which is exciting. It's the way you have to play the game. You can't play this game without emotion. We saw some good things, a couple of picks. One of them was a great play by Jack Tchienchou. It was a corner pressure. Jack made an unbelievable play. I think we're headed on the right track. We have a lot of things to get better at still, obviously, but a lot of good things today.”
Sumrall is not shy when he’s unimpressed with effort and energy.
The team always plays harder the following practice.
He didn't specifically mention anything after Day 1, but he started his remarks on Thursday by praising a fierce enthusiasm.
The Green Wave coaching staff retention is one of, if not the most valuable factor this offseason. There's an obvious culture, standard, and tone in place that wasn't established last March.
Tulane lost a lot of leadership in seniors and star power in the transfer portal.
There doesn’t seem to be a translation of that on the field through two sessions, though.
Players were notably sprinting to the sidelines following plays and finishing them out with maximum efforts down the field.
As the competing quarterbacks continue to settle in with quicker decision-making and better accuracy than the previous competition at this stage, the receivers were sharper.
The coverage was sticky with several plays like the one Sumrall highlighted.
It was an impressive pick that illustrates a stellar development example in Jack Tchienchou, who saw credible playing time as a true freshman at safety in the 2024 season and now is starting opposite Bailey Despanie.
Above all, it seemed like the players were actively engaged and having fun.
That’s an underrated component that stuck out to Sumrall.
“You have to play this game with energy, emotion, passion, and enthusiasm,” Sumrall said. “If you don't, I say this term all the time to our staff. If you're not fired with enthusiasm, you get fired with enthusiasm. You've got to bring energy, and this game is meant to be played that way. During the first practice, I felt like we were trying to figure out a lot of things, such as where to go."
There’s considerable player turnover that stuck out in the initial session as new faces meld together and form chemistry. Sumrall used that rockier practice in a team meeting to show deliberate examples that exemplify their standard and ones that failed to meet it.
“On Tuesday, there were times that a guy would make a big play, and it'd be like everybody would just kind of keep going,” Sumrall continued. “It's like, no, you celebrate big plays; you have to have fun. Nobody ever said growing up as a kid, I want to go work football today. I'm going to go play football, so let's have fun playing the game.”
Saturday will see the team put on pads and give a true assessment of competition at every position and the team as a whole, but Thursday illuminated a critical ability for the Tulane football team to build and stack days.
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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