Jon Sumrall should be coaching carousel's hottest name
That may have been Kiffin, but the outlook is certainly less exciting after the Kentucky loss. Sumrall should be at, or near, the top of most hot bods as the coaching carousel starts to spin this year.At just 42 years old, he's already proven himself as one of the brightest offensive minds in college football. Tulane's 3-2 record might not jump off the page, but closer analysis shows a good football team. The Green Wave started American Athletic Conference play Saturday with a 45-10 win against a South Florida team that pushed Alabama for more than three quarters.
Tulane's two losses both came against ranked Power Four teams. Tulane was a couple plays away from beating Kansas State and gave Oklahoma a fight before the Sooners pulled away late.
Tulane is probably the favorite to win the AAC at this point, which would be a third straight conference title for Sumrall. He's doing all of this without longtime starting quarterback Michael Pratt and several key pieces on both sides of the ball that left after last season.
That's not even mentioning the magical turnaround Sumrall pulled off at Troy. In 2022, he inherited a Trojans program fresh off three straight losing seasons and immediately won 23 games over the next two years, each capped by Sun Belt Conference titles.