Tulane Extends Contract for Head Football Coach Jon Sumrall

Head coach Jon Sumrall of the Tulane Green Wave reacts to a call in the fourth quarter against the Navy Midshipmen at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 16, 2024. Greg Fiume/Getty Images

Tulane has extended the contract of its head football coach Jon Sumrall, the university’s athletic director announced on Monday.

“I’m excited to announce that we have reached an agreement-in-principle with Jon Sumrall on a contract extension that will keep him as the Green Wave’s head football coach,” Athletic Director David Harris said in a post on X Monday morning. “With this in place, we can continue the growth of our championship-caliber football program in New Orleans.”

In his first year as head coach, Sumrall led the Green Wave to a 9-4 record, an appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship, and an appearance in the upcoming Gasparilla Bowl.

Sumrall, who had reportedly received offers for multiple head coach jobs in the Power 4 conferences, on Sunday confirmed reports that he was not seeking a new position.

“After working with him and his staff for the past year, I’m convinced that Jon is the right leader at the right time for our football program. He brings an incredible combination of leadership, passion, competitive spirit, and care for our student-athletes to the job each day.” Harris said.

“The landscape of college athletics is constantly evolving, and Jon’s vision helps to position us to succeed in this rapidly changing environment. Today’s news is a reflection of the bright future that both of us believe exists for the football program. We will work together and relentlessly to bring a championship back to Uptown.”

Sumrall was hired as the 42nd head coach of the Green Wave in 2024, having previously served as head coach of the Troy University Trojans. At Troy, he led the Trojans to a 12-2 Season, a Sun Belt Conference championship, and a victory over #23 UTSA in the 2022 Cure Bowl. In 2023, he led Troy to an 11-2 season, a second Sun Belt title, and an appearance in the 2023 Birmingham Bowl vs. Duke. He previously served as co-defensive coordinator at Tulane from 2012-2014.

Notable victories included a 52-0 shutout win over Southeastern Louisiana, a 45-10 blowout win over USF, a 71-20 decimation of UAB, a 34-3 win over UNC Charlotte, and a 35-0 shutout of Navy. He led Tulane to an AAC Championship berth, but the Green Wave fell 35-14 to #22 Army on Friday. They will play Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 20.

Sumrall explained his decision to stay in an interview with local news outlet WVUE.

“I love it here, my family loves it here, I love this program,” he told WVUE’s Garland Gillen. “[There were] certain things I wanted to make sure we had in place to be successful moving forward.”

“There’s a lot of work still left to be done,” he said. “While I’m all in to be here, there’s still a thousand things we have to do to continue to push this program forward. I’m very comfortable with where we are, but we have a long way to go, and [I] just didn’t feel like I was ready to move on. I like what we’re doing.”

Sumrall had been reportedly linked to each of the 4 open positions in the Power 4 conferences. He shot those rumors down at a press gaggle last week.

“Look, people call. They call my agent. I don’t talk to them very often,” Sumrall said. “Like very little gets to me. Very little. Like almost nothing gets to me. ... When it gets to me it’s usually because I’m like, ‘This is … something I need to consider.’ Nothing’s getting to me right now. I can say that. Nothing’s getting to me.”

ESPN reported Sunday that Sumrall had informed Tulane’s Athletic Department that he was not interested in pursuing any of the open positions. Sumrall confirmed that reporting on his personal X account, quote-tweeting an ESPN reporter with a GIF of the famous “I’m not leaving” speech from the 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”