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re: All the Sumrall simping reminds me of when everyone wanted Napier
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:16 pm to TN Tygah
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:16 pm to TN Tygah
quote:
Sumrall went 9-5 in his first season
From Google. People keep implying he was loaded after Fritz. He was not and had to rebuild on the fly.
quote:
Upon arriving at Tulane, head coach Jon Sumrall faced a massive roster overhaul, having to replace nearly 60 players who had either entered the transfer portal or graduated after the 2024 season. This roster turnover was largely due to the departure of his predecessor, Willie Fritz, for Houston.
Prominent players Sumrall had to replace include:
Quarterback: The most high-profile departure was quarterback Darian Mensah, a four-star prospect who transferred to Duke and was reportedly offered a $4 million-per-year NIL deal. Mensah's exit left a significant hole at the position.
Running Back: Two-time 1,000-yard rusher Makhi Hughes left for Oregon.
Receivers: The top four receivers from the previous season all departed.
Other key positions: Sumrall also had to replace the starting tight end (Alex Bauman, who went to Miami), the punter (Will Karoll), and other key players.
In response to the exodus, Sumrall immediately turned to the transfer portal to rebuild his roster, bringing in 60 new players and only having five returning starters for the 2025 season. Among the new additions was quarterback Jake Retzlaff from BYU.
He has adapted quickly and finding a QB last minute and then changing the offense up in 6 weeks to accommodate is a pretty good indicator he's willing to not force a square peg in a round hole.
Im not saying he's a savior but his team looks good and is physical and appears to be who they are and can make adjustments.
0
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:20 pm to TN Tygah
Why would Ole Miss want Kiffin? Because he succeeded at FAU? And he had already failed at the major level?
Saban succeeded at Toledo and Urban succeeded at Bowling Green. A coach who has had success is a better bet. Doesn’t mean guaranteed. Basically excluding Saban, Urban or Kirby there are no sure things. You have to take in the best evidence you can gather and hope it works. Sumrall is about as good as it gets for realistic, available options.
Saban succeeded at Toledo and Urban succeeded at Bowling Green. A coach who has had success is a better bet. Doesn’t mean guaranteed. Basically excluding Saban, Urban or Kirby there are no sure things. You have to take in the best evidence you can gather and hope it works. Sumrall is about as good as it gets for realistic, available options.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:21 pm to deathvalleytiger10
quote:But you also have to look at that after those 2 seasons, many of the players could have moved on. Depending on when the coach gets the job, he may not have time to recruit or get transfers. So just because his record looks down, he could have done more with less until he has time to bring in more players.
And then he took over Fritz's Tulane teams that had gone 12-2 and 11-3 the two years before he got there. And then went 9-5.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:29 pm to Rand AlThor
.
This post was edited on 11/10/25 at 9:17 am
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:30 pm to Henry Jones Jr
quote:
not convinced Napier is a bad coach. Just put in the wrong situation. I think he will get another job and succeed
Found the Glenn Guilbeau account.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:31 pm to Schmelly
quote:
Just put in the wrong situation.
A top 10 job in the country with the #1 QB recruit in the country? What situation woulda made sunbelt Billy successful
Florida's athletic department and board is a messy drama-filled clusterfrick and has been for at least a couple years. It's pretty well-known what they've done to sabotage themselves behind the scenes
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:32 pm to deathvalleytiger10
quote:
And then he took over Fritz's Tulane teams that had gone 12-2 and 11-3 the two years before he got there. And then went 9-5.
And has only 5 returning starters this year from last year's team and is 6-1.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:34 pm to Henry Jones Jr
quote:
Im not convinced Napier is a bad coach. Just put in the wrong situation.
I’d say one variable of the younger coaches is that they don’t have as many accomplished “coach friends” that will come be their coordinators. If we got a Napier type, he’d need solid OC/DC’s.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:38 pm to Nobelium
You’re shifting the goal posts from what my post was about. Almost all of your examples are guys who were never successful P4/5 HEAD COACHES before their current gigs. Most were just good coordinators or HCs are smaller schools.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:45 pm to BLyonsTiger
quote:
He also did a great job at turning things around at Troy.
And that’s fine and everything, but that’s why I brought up Neal Brown. WVU isn’t quite LSU but Neal Brown turned things around at Troy massively, then sucked at WVU, from a strictly W/L perspective things got worse under Neal Brown at WVU and remained worse.
The jump to P4 from those shite conferences is more massive than people think.
This post was edited on 10/27/25 at 4:47 pm
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:47 pm to RBWilliams8
quote:
I’d say one variable of the younger coaches is that they don’t have as many accomplished “coach friends” that will come be their coordinators. If we got a Napier type, he’d need solid OC/DC’s.
Napier was his own worst enemy when it came to getting elite OC’s tho. He refused to give up playcalling a lot of OC’s aren’t gonna wanna coach for you if you don’t give them freedom to call their plays
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:48 pm to nvasil1
quote:
You're also conveniently ignoring that Sumrall took over from Chip Lindsey, who was garbage at Troy.
I specifically mentioned Neal Brown for this reason, who turned Troy around massively, then sucked at WVU.
I also mentioned that Sumrall took over for Willie Fritz, who went 23-5 in his last 2 seasons at Tulane. Then Sumrall went 9-5. He’s 6-1 right now and you have no idea what he finishes at.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 4:48 pm to LSUSlidell23
He’s a good coach based on very limited time to review. Is LSU a program that needs to gamble that he can translate a few years at Troy and Tulane to the SEC?
I sure hope not.
I sure hope not.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:00 pm to TN Tygah
quote:
Fritz was 23-5 at Tulane his last 2 seasons before Sumrall took his place
thats a better point than comparing him to Napier. AAC isn’t the sunbelt but he did walk into a good situation at Tulane.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:03 pm to Henry Jones Jr
If I were in power at Tulane, I would hire Napier if Sumrall leaves. Napier has to agree to hire an offensive coordinator.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:06 pm to FireGoodell
quote:
Idk why people want to go with a risk with this important of a hire
This is what got us Kelly.... he was the 'safe' hire.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:10 pm to Schmelly
quote:
What situation woulda made sunbelt Billy successful
Having LSU's schedule instead of theirs for starters.
And not having to recruit against Miami, FSU, UGA, and even smaller schools like UCF and USF
Also, Lagway has been hurt ever since arriving on campus. He played with a leg wrap against us last year and had 0 rushing attempts. Missed the spring and Summer with another injury.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:11 pm to Henry Jones Jr
quote:
Im not convinced Napier is a bad coach
Just a bad playcaller.
If he hired an OC, he'd still have a job
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:13 pm to Cuz413
quote:
Having LSU's schedule instead of theirs for starters.
True, UF has had a fkn murderers row schedule the past few seasons.
quote:
And not having to recruit against Miami, FSU, UGA, and even smaller schools like UCF and USF
Billy held his own recruiting.
quote:
Missed the spring and Summer with another injury.
Shouldve started the backup, had we ran the ball more, we beat USF. Our RB was having a field day vs them and Billy tried to get cute.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 5:15 pm to TN Tygah
Sun Belt Billy.
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