Tulane AD: ‘Adjust and move forward’ after Ida, beginning with trip to OU

Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen balanced disappointment with optimism Friday morning, moments before he was headed to board a plane for the Green Wave’s football opener Saturday at Oklahoma.

“The Oklahoma game, we’ve recruited to it for three years,” Dannen said in a Zoom call with media from Birmingham, Alabama, the temporary headquarters for the department in the wake of Hurricane Ida. “We’ve sold more season tickets this year. A lot of it was the seven-home game schedule, headlined by the second-ranked team in the country.

“You adjust and move forward. That’s what we’ve done the last 18 months, right?”

Still, the news from Entergy Friday morning that most of the metro area could have power restored by the middle of next week provides a glimmer of optimism.

“There’s optimism that we’re not gonna be here six weeks,” Dannen said. “We’ve got this hotel (Sheraton Birmingham) all to ourselves. We have a first-class hotel that is completely Tulane athletic staff, families and student-athletes.

“It’s not like everybody’s been here for a month and worn down by it. Certainly the news that power’s coming back on in the city, I think that’s given everybody a little energy too.”

Losing a marquee home game and, at minimum, a second home game next week against Morgan State, is going to affect the bottom line.

“It is a financial hit,” Dannen said. “The magnitude, what’s insured, I’m not sure. How are we going to refund partial season tickets? The gate (at Oklahoma) is going to help, but obviously we’ve got additional expenses.”

Dannen was optimistic that the Sept. 25 game – coincidentally, against UAB – would be able to be played at Yulman Stadium.

“There are campus considerations and when we can get into the facilities,” he said. “(Sept. 16) is the last possible date we would have to decide to play in New Orleans.”

An early assessment indicates that Yulman is equipped to host a game.

“The stadium, the damage it took was cosmetic,” Dannen said. “Structurally, is it playable? Yes. I feel we’re in a pretty good place as far as facilities,” adding that Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, the Green Wave’s baseball stadium, has the most damage, notably to the scoreboard and foul poles.

It wasn’t feasible to execute a flip of home dates with Oklahoma. The third game of the two-for-one deal with the Sooners is still in Norman in 2024, though Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione said he will look to schedule a game at Tulane in the future.

“Schedules are carefully crafted, so it’s not that feasible to flip,” Dannen said. “Once they have more finality of what the SEC is going to do, Joe (Castiglione) has told me he’s planning to make a trip to New Orleans.”

As for the decision to play next Saturday’s home game with Morgan State at Legion Field in Birmingham, Dannen wanted some normalcy to his operation.

“From the time we got here, it appeared we were not going to be (back in New Orleans) next week,” he said. “(Legion Field) is a city owned facility.”

Dannen wanted to avoid a situation like Tulane had in 2005, post-Hurricane Katrina, with 11 games in 11 weeks in 11 different stadiums.

“We did not want to become a world traveler, and wanted to establish a home field,” he said. “It may be a one-game home field. We’re going to try to brand it the best we can and make it a home field the best we can.”

While Saturday’s game is in Norman, it will be Tulane’s home game. The OU field crew was even painting the “Angry Wave” logo at the 25-yard lines to the playing surface late this week.

“We’re going to wear our home jerseys,” said Dannen. “Oklahoma will call the flip.”

Logistically, some things will operate as if it’s Oklahoma’s home game, like the bench areas teams use. It’s possible that the Sooners will wear their home crimson jerseys as well, since they would contrast with Tulane’s uniform.

“From a home standpoint, we’re renting facilities,” Dannen said. “Once game expenses are covered, the gate is ours. It’s semantics – we know we’re not the home team. We’re going to wear those baby blues.

“The same team that expected to beat Oklahoma is getting on that plane.”