FIRE HARRIS AND HALL

Over four seasons Tulane won 43 games, won conference championships, beat USC in the Cotton Bowl and reached the College Football Playoff. Leadership's job was simple: preserve it, institutionalize it, build on it. Instead, the old pattern of retreat came back.

• Sumrall walked. Before he left, New Orleans sports journalist Garland Gillen asked what David Harris was doing to keep him. Citing his sources, his answer was: “Not much.” Less than a month later, Sumrall was at Florida.
• The search missed. Tulane chased LSU defensive coordinator and former Tulane player Blake Baker. Baker stayed at LSU, and three days later Tulane promoted from within. That's a failure to plan for succession.
• It's not just football. In 2025–26, baseball finished last in the American, women's basketball finished near the bottom, and men's basketball was under .500 in conference play again.
• Even the basics broke. The Yulman game clock failed during the nationally televised 2025 Duke game (“CLOCK OUTAGE — OFFICIAL TIME ON FIELD”), and the 2026 South Alabama home stream on ESPN+ had video blackouts and audio failures.
• The ambition gap. In August 2025, Harris described Tulane's goal as being among the top Group of 5 programs. Tulane brings in about $66 million a year in athletics revenue; the average ACC department brings in about $160 million. Being the best in the lower tier is not a way out of it.

We believe the program is headed in the wrong direction, and that starts at the top. We're calling on Tulane leadership to make a change: replace Athletic Director David Harris and Head Football Coach Will Hall.

Conference realignment isn't over, and Tulane is already being mentioned as a candidate for the next round of ACC expansion. Being mentioned isn't the same as being ready. Tulane needs a funded, Board-approved Power 4 plan, and an athletic director hired to carry it out, not to decide whether we should have one.