Troy’s Jon Sumrall ‘expected’ to be named new Tulane head coach

Troy head coach Jon Sumrall has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Willie Fritz as Tulane’s head football coach.

An announcement could come either today or tomorrow.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Friday that Sumrall is expected to be Tulane’s choice and that a deal is “expected to be finalized” later today.

According to NOLA.com, Sumrall met with Tulane officials Wednesday in Birmingham – apparently while he was in town for a Birmingham Bowl news conference, which is the Trojans’ postseason destination.

The only coach to be a finalist each of the last two years for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is given to the national coach of the year by the Football Writers Association of America and the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the 41-year-old Sumrall has guided Troy to a 23-4 record in two seasons – coincidentally, the same record Tulane accumulated under Fritz in 2022 and 2023.

Troy, which defeated Appalachian State to win its second consecutive Sun Belt Conference title last Saturday, will play Duke in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 23.

Ironically, Sumrall was a candidate for the Duke vacancy before Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz became the apparent choice earlier Thursday. Blue Devils coach Mike Elko was named head coach at Texas A&M last week.

If Sumrall is named Tulane’s head coach, he would be the first former Tulane assistant to take over the program since Greg Davis was promoted to succeed Mack Brown following the 1987 season, and the first to be a Tulane assistant, leave and return since Bennie Ellender replaced Jim Pittman 53 years ago.

Sumrall spent three years on Curtis Johnson’s staff at Tulane from 2013-15, including one season as co-defensive coordinator with Lionel Washington.

It would also be the second straight Sun Belt Conference champion coach to come to Tulane. Fritz won the conference title at Georgia Southern in 2014 before accepting the job Uptown one year later.

Fritz was named head coach at the University of Houston on Sunday, one day after the Green Wave lost to SMU in the American Athletic Conference championship game.

Slade Nagle, who served as Fritz’s offensive coordinator this fall, was named interim head coach and is leading Tulane’s preparations for the Military Bowl on Dec. 27 against Virginia Tech in Annapolis, Maryland.

Current Tulane defensive coordinator Shiel Wood was on Sumrall’s staff at Troy in 2022 before making the move Uptown earlier this year.