Reports: Tulane shuffling football staff again after two departures

Willie Fritz made some changes to his coaching staff in the offseason. Now, he’ll reportedly have to make two more moves.

Two of the new assistants Fritz hired this winter are already leaving for others jobs. Offensive line coach Geep Wade is leaving for the same position at Appalachian State, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, while defensive line coach Gerald Chatman is leaving for a similar post at Colorado, according to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman.

Rittenberg is also reporting that Fritz has moved quickly on the offensive line post, hiring Georgia State assistant Eman Naghavi.

Source: #Tulane is set to hire Eman Naghavi as offensive line coach. He coached Georgia State's offensive line in 2021 and was set to oversee running backs and special teams in 2022. Former offensive coordinator and O-line coach at Louisiana-Monroe. Also worked at Texas.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) March 3, 2022

Naghavi coached the Panthers’ offensive line in 2021 and was poised to make a position change to running backs and special teams. He was the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at ULM under Matt Viator and previously coached the line under Viator at McNeese, his alma mater, where he was a three-time all-conference offensive lineman and an FCS All-American in 2008.

Naghavi also spent two seasons at Texas (2013-14) as an offensive line assistant, including one season under former Tulane head coach Mack Brown.

Naghavi will be the fourth offensive line coach on Fritz’s staff in the last 15 months. Cody Kennedy, who coached in 2019 and 2020, left at the start of spring practice a year ago to accept an assistant’s job on the Arkansas staff. Former Notre Dame graduate assistant Chris Watt was hired to replace Kennedy but was reportedly let go by Fritz following the 2021 season, and was replaced last month by Wade.

Wade had come to Tulane after spending the 2021 season as offensive line coach at Georgia Southern and is leaving New Orleans to go to a region where he has spent much of his career.

Chatman was an analyst at LSU and was offered the opportunity to remain on staff by Brian Kelly, but instead chose to come to Tulane for an on-field opportunity. But before he could ever set foot on the field for a practice, he is off to Boulder.

Tulane will begin spring practice later this month.