Jon Sumrall Shows Off His Hands in Another Tulane Win

Some may say that all Jon Sumrall does is win. We learned during a Halloween football game that the Tulane head coach also has hands.

Sumrall played linebacker at Kentucky for Rich Brooks in the early 00s. Last night he looked like a wide receiver.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Charlotte quarterback threw a pass off target and out of bounds. Sailing directly to the head coach, Jon Sumrall snatched the ball right out of the air. The Tulane players jumped for joy to celebrate with Sumrall. He tried his best to remain stoic, but he briefly cracked a sheepish smile before moving on to the next play.

COACH SUMRALL GOT HANDS @SickosCommittee #AmericanWay x @GreenWaveFB pic.twitter.com/5I6cc1ARVY

— The American (@American_Conf) November 1, 2024

Tulane ran away with a 34-3 win to improve to 7-2 this season (and 7-2 ATS). Unbeaten in conference play, there’s an outside shot the Green Wave end up representing the American Athletic Conference as the Group of Five CFB Playoff team.

How do Liberty and Nebraska have a Top 25 vote and Tulane doesn't?

Don't let two close losses to P4 teams fool you, the Green Wave are the best G5 team.

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) October 21, 2024

With the win, Sumrall improves to 30-6 (.833 winning percent) in just over 2.5 seasons as a college football head coach. He won back-to-back Sun Belt titles at Troy and secured another postseason victory in the Cure Bowl. These are the only five teams he’s lost to in three seasons as a G5 head coach:

• at Oklahoma
• Kansas State (twice)
• James Madison
• at Ole Miss
• at Appalachian State (on a Hail Mary)

Sumrall’s success juxtaposed with Mark Stoops‘ struggles has created a tenuous climate around Big Blue Nation. From a historical perspective, finding a coach that could successfully replace Stoops without any dropoff feels like an impossible task. If Kentucky had to conduct a coaching search in almost every season over the last 12, there would not be an obvious choice. Now there is a guy who played for Rich Brooks and coached with Mark Stoops who is absolutely killing it.

Kentucky is dealing with a big mess on its hands inside its own locker room. As they try to salvage what’s left of the season in the month of November, every time Sumrall secures another win, more Kentucky fans daydream about the return of the Prodigal Son.

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