Tulane’s Offense is Adjusting to Strengths of Personnel

The Tulane Green Wave brought in a lot of weapons on offense and are forming a plan based off the skills of those players.

Credit: Tulane Athletics / Football

The Tulane Green Wave will debut a new offensive system in addition to their next starting quarterback. No matter who wins the job, the season opener is less than two weeks away. It’s time for the offense to come to full strength as a unit.

An offense can be formed around – or limited by – a quarterback, but they’re one of several crucial moving parts. They need to have rapport with the center, who must work in concert with the rest of the offensive line. If the line falters, so does the entire game plan.

Even with Michael Pratt under center, the Green Wave considerably leaned on the run last season. That was under a different head coach and coordinator. A cursory look at Troy’s offense last year under offensive coordinator Joe Craddock bears some similarities.

Excluding their respective bowl games, as both Willie Fritz and Jon Sumrall had moved on by that point, Tulane and Troy had about the same run-pass balance. The Green Wave ran on 49% of their plays last season, while the Trojans ran on 46%. The numbers are about similar on third down and in the red zone, with Troy passing a little more often in both scenarios.

It’s easy to be that balanced with running backs both programs had in the backfield. Kimani Vidal was the 2023 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the year and now is on the Los Angeles Chargers. Tulane moved right on from Tyjae Spears with Makhi Hughes last year. Coach Craddock thinks he’s much quicker this season.

“Last year, you saw him break some big runs and get run down from behind,” Craddock told reporters on Monday. “I think he’s a lot faster and more physical. He’s shown that in training camp. The biggest thing now if continuing to find who that next guy is with more consistency at the second spot [at running back].”

Tulane didn’t name Hughes the starter until opening conference play against Memphis last season. They never really settled on RB2. Arnold Duda Barnes has looked like a strong contender, but freshman Jamari McClure has been intriguing to watch throughout training camp, not remotely looking his age in size and speed. It's impossible to ignore Shaadie Clayton-Johnson's abilities as a pass catcher.

Eventually, the passing game will have to get more detailed, but the quarterbacks have all shown the ability to execute Craddock’s system. Equally important to that battle is the right lineup at receiver.

Craddock acknowledged the number of weapons the team has, and how they’ve taken the field a bit differently than anticipated.

“We have to find the best way to put guys in certain spots that helps their skillset and take advantage of what they do,” he explained.

Initially, receivers thought to be deep threats are a bit better utilized underneath, and vice versa; the team has mixed and matched to find the right pieces.

The quarterback competition has taken a lot of the spotlight, but the offense has to both form around and work with whoever wins the role. Receivers have to step up and make crucial grabs, and running backs need to properly pass protect out the backfield. Players need to line up on the right spot with correct splits.

Focusing on the little details is the Green Wave’s game plan for the next week and a half. 11 players have to be on the same page on Aug. 29, and help out whoever is under center.