Tulane’s Legacy Will Be Put to the Test Under New Faces
Tulane won 23 games in the last two seasons, and the championship-caliber culture built by the players left a legacy to carry on.
While this current team under coach Jon Sumrall and a multitude of new faces finds its footing, they have a blueprint to lean on—the greatest single-season turnaround in college football history.
Tulane lost one starter in the transfer portal following the 2-10 season. Outside of some portal pickups to add experience in the secondary, the Green Wave largely rolled with the same roster the following season. The players who beat one FBS program in 2021 proceeded to win the conference championship and the Cotton Bowl.
The four team captains, Nick Anderson, Dorian Williams, Michael Pratt, and Sincere Haynesworth, started it all with a PowerPoint presentation. Following the 2021 season, the captains convened in December and made a list of things that went wrong that year that were out of their hands—and a list of things they could control.
They ended that presentation with a photo of the conference championship trophy on the final slide. According to Nick Anderson, even the players within the brotherhood initially harbored skepticism. The leadership outweighed the apprehension, and they successfully achieved the goal they manifested.
At times throughout the year, it was difficult for the players to believe; it didn't truly sink in until the final stretch for everyone. The team faced a critical juncture after the Southern Miss loss. Nick Anderson cut off Willie Fritz in the locker room to calm turbulent waters. He always saw the path forward. He was aided by the last group of players to leave something meaningful behind at Tulane—the undefeated 1998 team.
Here’s what Anderson said prior to their game against Tulsa in Week 10.
“It's a blessing since I've gotten here. You hear about the 1998 team every time you come through here because it's special; it's a tradition. I remember one of the ‘98 guys telling us, you haven't really done anything unless you make a timeline here, unless you make something special to where they put it and say, okay, the 2022 Tulane team did this. That's the goal for this year. It is to match that intensity, match that level, and make a timeline, make a record, be one of the teams that's remembered for what we did.”
Anderson might not have realized how sage his comments were. The team beat Tulsa, but had their biggest season test the week following when they lost to UCF. They wouldn’t lose again.
The legacy lasted through another winning season and the chaos that followed. Without that culture, it’s difficult not to feel like the team would have imploded upon the departure of Willie Fritz.
Incoming players, such as Tyler Grubbs, referenced this legacy the following season. This legacy has made Tulane a destination that attracts coaches of the caliber of Jon Sumrall, as well as the roster he has built.
Sumrall always saw potential in Anderson, as evidenced by his attempt to recruit him to Ole Miss when he was the linebackers coach there. He brought him on the staff as the linebackers coach at the Military Bowl. He was the emotional pulse of a struggling team that lacked a clear leader.
Anderson wanted to leave a timeline and a legacy. That’s the current era of Tulane Football. However, a legacy is only as meaningful as how its members interpret and carry it out.
Tulane will face adversity this season. Every team, except the one in 1998, has lost at least one game. Plenty of teams lose their head coaches and quarterbacks. However, the magnitude of this season is significant for testing that legacy.
It's a legacy of winners, leaders, and men of high character. While schemes and personnel are important, the team must lean on the culture that holds up the program outside of game snaps. If they can emulate the players who changed Tulane’s history, the Green Wave are capable of handling anything that tries to stop them this season.
MADDY HUDAK