Name Image Likeness

Top NCAA Coach Shares Candid Thoughts on Transforming NIL Landscape

Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall joins expert panel to discuss NIL opportunities and challenges in college football.

Maddy Hudak

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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College football programs need to continuously adapt at an accelerated pace to the NIL landscape and player movement in the transfer portal.

It’s easier for Group of Five programs to get left behind than stay atop the state of college sports with name, image, and likeness opportunities, but Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall sticks out as one to embrace the times.

With challenges come opportunities, and Sumrall is set to share his candid thoughts on NIL with a pair of leading industry experts as a part of the 2025 New Orleans Book Festival.

Sumrall will join Chairman of Altius Sports Partners and former West Virginia Mountaineers athletics director Oliver Luck in an intriguing discussion moderated by national sports law expert and director of the Tulane Sports Law Program Gabe Feldman.

The panel, Navigating the NIL Era: Opportunities and Challenges in College Sports, takes place on March 29 in New Orleans.

It will be fascinating to hear the thoughts of a head coach who felt the effects of the portal at a harsh level.

Spring practice kicked off Tuesday for the program and was headlined by a consecutive quarterback competition in search of the successor to Darian Mensah, who transferred to the Duke Blue Devils. 

Despite losing his star quarterback to one of the highest reported deals in college football, as well as running back Makhi Hughes, tight end Alex Bauman, nose tackle Parker Petersen, and other key contributors, Sumrall has been an active promoter of players getting paid.

Sumrall spoke with Fox 8 Sports in January and was clear in his support as a former collegiate athlete.

“There’s movement with athletes, and I’m not against it,” Sumrall said. “There’s payment for players. I love it. I'm for our players getting taken care of. I want them to be able to make money. It's great. I don't think any coach who is against NIL really is for their players."

The panel will also cover the transformative impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) policies in collegiate athletics as programs inch closer to revenue-sharing as part of the impending House settlement.

Policy discussion could extend from the revenue-sharing and league minimum implemented by the American Conference to possible guidelines or solutions that don’t yet exist in the framework.

Sumrall previously offered a solution to tampering that wasn’t as catastrophic as some mindsets of head coaches who lose top players. Rather than pushing for consequences, Sumrall suggested buyouts.

“I think there should be some restrictions, maybe, on the movement,” Sumrall said. “If a coach wants to leave a job, there's a buyout involved. Well, how about we have maybe a buyout on a player if he decides to leave? So, if he wants to transfer up, then they have to monetarily pay us to get him out of the deal.” 

The coach's mentality sets the tone for a program's NIL opportunities and willingness to embrace them, and Tulane is fortunate to have a coach who is open-minded and adaptable to the advantages and disadvantages of NIL in college sports.

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Maddy Hudak
MADDY HUDAK

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