2005
Post-Katrina near-death
Hurricane Katrina scatters the team across the country and nearly ends the program
Wound
Program outlook
Program outlook
Tulane helped found the SEC and the Sugar Bowl, then left the conference in 1966 and spent fifty years outside the big time. In 2025, the Green Wave won the AAC title and became the first Louisiana program ever to reach the College Football Playoff. Jon Sumrall coached the Playoff game on his way out the door to Florida.
Since Jun 14: L 17-20 at Army; W 31-17 vs Memphis; L 19-42 vs UTSA; W 38-31 at Charlotte. 4-4 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
The founding credential is real: Tulane was a charter member of the Southeastern Conference, hosted the first Sugar Bowls, and won conference championships in the 1920s and 1930s. Then the program de-emphasized, walked away from the SEC, and spent the next half-century as a hard-luck New Orleans program playing in the Superdome while LSU owned the state's football oxygen. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 scattered the team across the country and nearly ended what remained. That history — the founding, the fall, the near-death — is the context for everything Willie Fritz and then Jon Sumrall rebuilt.
Sumrall's 2025 was the loudest chapter yet: an 11-3 season, a 34-21 win over North Texas in the AAC title game, and a Playoff berth as the No. 11 seed — the first Louisiana program ever in the field. QB Jake Retzlaff, a BYU transfer, ran for 16 touchdowns and threw for 14. Ole Miss eliminated Tulane 41-10 in the first round, and Sumrall departed for Florida the day after the season ended, having coached the Playoff game with a new job already signed. Will Hall, promoted from within, now runs the program.
The 2026 question is the one that has haunted this revival: can Tulane keep the coach who wins? Fritz left for Houston after building the 2022 Cotton Bowl team. Sumrall left for Florida after building the Playoff team. Hall is the program's third head coach in three years of sustained success — a New Orleans institution that has proven it can reach the Playoff and has not yet proven it can hold the men who took it there.
On the field
New Orleans resilience — physical, opportunistic, defense-and-run football built on a chip earned from coming back from the brink. Retzlaff's dual-threat skill set gave the 2025 offense a floor when the passing game stalled; Hall inherits a system built around that versatility and a roster that has experienced back-to-back conference title runs. Yulman Stadium, the on-campus home Tulane returned to in 2014 after decades in the Superdome, puts football back at the heart of uptown New Orleans — and makes the program feel like a destination again.
Tulane has won 45% of its games since 1902 — 55% at home, 31% on the road.
564-664-35 all-time · 123 seasons · 1902–2026
Home
383-305-4
Away
167-349-31
Neutral
14-10
48%
1900s
49%
1910s
62%
1920s
72%
1930s
49%
1940s
36%
1950s
24%
1960s
47%
1970s
39%
1980s
33%
1990s
36%
2000s
35%
2010s
62%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Tulane’s 2014–2026 record is 84-78.
Will Hall
Will Hall took over from Jon Sumrall for the 2026 season.
Era Will Hall · 2026–presentPrev: Jon Sumrall (2024–2025)OC: Russ CallawayPrev OC: Joe Craddock / Evan McKissack (co) (2024–2025)DC: Tayler Polk / Nate Fuqua (co)Prev DC: Greg Gasparato / Tayler Polk (co) (2024–2025)
1
year · era
Tulane and LSU, meeting by meeting
LSU leads the series 63-20-7 (since 1904); in the last 10 meetings, Tulane is 0-10
2009: LSU won 42-0. After this game, LSU led 63-20-7.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Tulane won, ▼ LSU won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Tulane wins, down when LSU wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1904. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Tulane history
- Tulane 46, USC 45Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic · Jan 2, 2023
- Tulsa 30, Tulane 24Nov 19, 2020
- Tulane hires Will Hall2025
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
The 2023 Cotton Bowl
Tulane beats USC 46-45 to cap a 12-2 worst-to-first season — the resurrection's signature win
2025
The first Playoff berth
An AAC title and an 11-3 record send Tulane to the first 12-team CFP, the first Louisiana team ever to make it
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 31-17 vs Memphis
Week 7 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc.
2023–2025
Tulane has sent 6 players to the NFL Draft since 2023 — none in the first round.
Developing. Pipeline emerging.
6
picks · 0 in round 1
#81
Tyjae Spears
Running Back · 2023 · 
Tennessee Titans · #1/317 final season
Tennessee Titans · #1/317 final season
#88
Caleb Ransaw
Cornerback · 2025 · 
Jacksonville Jaguars · #390/537 final season
Jacksonville Jaguars · #390/537 final season
#91
Dorian Williams
Inside Linebacker · 2023 · 
Buffalo Bills · #11/548 final season
Buffalo Bills · #11/548 final season
#75 all-time · 5 first-round picksthe talent factory →
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Program facts
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4Tulane is 4-4 — competitive, unranked, not yet bowl-eligible.
Competitive in FBS but not bowl-eligible — the close-loss tier.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
American Athletic standing · 2026
8th in the American Athletic
Tulane is 8th of 14 in the American Athletic at 2-2. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Texas | 4-0 |
| 2 | UTSA | 4-0 |
| 3 | Memphis | 4-1 |
| 4 | Army | 4-2 |
| 5 | East Carolina | 2-2 |
| 6 | Florida Atlantic | 2-2 |
| 7 | South Florida | 2-2 |
| 8 | Tulane | 2-2 |
| 9 | UAB | 2-2 |
| 10 | Charlotte | 1-3 |
| 11 | Temple | 1-3 |
| 12 | Tulsa | 1-3 |
| 13 | Navy | 1-4 |
| 14 | Rice | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Will Hall
- Jon Sumrall departs
- Hired Jon Sumrall
- Hired Slade Nagle (interim)
- Willie Fritz departs
- Slade Nagle departs (interim)
- Hired Willie Fritz
- Curtis Johnson departs
Coordinator lineage
Tulane’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Eric Price2016–2018 · Doug Ruse2019–2020 · Will Hall2021 · Chip Long2022 · Jim Svoboda2023 · Slade Nagle2024–2025 · Joe Craddock / Evan McKissack (co)2026 · Russ Callaway
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Jon Sumrall (co) / Lionel Washington (co)2015 · Jason Rollins (co) / Lionel Washington (co)2016–2020 · Jack Curtis2021–2022 · Chris Hampton2023 · Shiel Wood2024–2025 · Greg Gasparato / Tayler Polk (co)2026 · Tayler Polk / Nate Fuqua (co)
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
1925 Sugar Bowl Founding
since 1925
more
Tulane co-founded the Sugar Bowl game in 1925 — the first-ever Sugar Bowl was a Tulane vs Temple matchup. The Sugar Bowl became one of CFB's premier postseason fixtures, partially due to Tulane's institutional role + New Orleans geographic identity. The Sugar Bowl's roots are uniquely Tulane's.
Willie Fritz 2022 Cotton Bowl Run
since 2022
more
Willie Fritz's 2022 12-2 + American Athletic championship + Cotton Bowl championship (beating USC 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl) + #9 final AP rank was the program's modern peak. The 2022 win + the 17-point fourth-quarter comeback + Michael Pratt at QB cemented Tulane as G5 contender.
Yulman Stadium On-Campus
since 2014
more
Yulman Stadium (built 2014) — Tulane's first on-campus stadium since 1974 — anchors the modern era. The 30,000 capacity + Uptown New Orleans setting + the Mardi Gras / Bourbon Street game-day proximity make the venue uniquely New Orleans + uniquely Tulane.
Cultural identity
2024 L
2023 L
2022 W
2020 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
12.7k
[Postgame Thread] Tulane Defeats USC 46-45
1.7k
[Postgame Thread] Tulane Defeats UCF 45-28
823
[Postgame Thread] Tulane Defeats Memphis 38-32
796
[Postgame Thread] Navy Defeats Tulane 27-24
660
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Tulane 55-26
All-time top community posts
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