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Jon Sumrall stated rather emphatically on Sunday that his primary focus right now is on getting Tulane ready for its bowl game.
The Green Wave’s first-year head coach has been heavily linked to the open North Carolina position. According to multiple reports, Sumrall is high on North Carolina’s board. The school is also said to be interested in longtime NFL coach Bill Belichick and the timeline for a hire remains unclear.
“Am I here? I mean, my goodness. Do you want me to leave? Alright. I get asked about it every day right now. I know we lost 2 games, everybody wants to run me out of town, but I’m here. I showed up to work today,” Sumrall told reporters on Sunday.
“I’m not going to comment on hypotheticals. I’m trying to figure out how we can win a game. Look, people call. They call my agent. I don’t talk to them very often. Like, very little gets to me. Very little. Like, almost nothing gets to me. … When it gets to me, it’s usually because I’m like, ‘This is something I really need to consider.’ Nothing’s getting to me right now. I can say that. Nothing’s getting to me.”
Very PASSIONATE Jon Sumrall addresses all the reports linking him to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels opening. pic.twitter.com/fIgdtc4uiu
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) December 8, 2024
In 2 seasons at Troy, Sumrall went 23-4. He parlayed that success into the Tulane job and took the Green Wave to the AAC Championship Game in his first year with a redshirt freshman quarterback.
Tulane surged into the top 25 late in the year with a 35-0 win at Navy, but the Green Wave stumbled to close out the campaign, losing 34-24 at home to Memphis on Nov. 28 and then falling 35-14 to Army in the AAC title game.
North Carolina would be seen as an upgrade, but it would be the third job in 3 years for Sumrall.
Additionally, the Kentucky tie hangs over all this. Sumrall played linebacker for the Wildcats from 2002-04 and then moved into a graduate assistant position with the football program. He returned to Kentucky as a linebackers coach in 2019 and remained with the school through 2021.
After a 4-8 season in 2024, Mark Stoops figures to enter the 2025 year very much on the hot seat. If he struggles again, Kentucky could be in the market for new head coach and Sumrall would almost certainly be in consideration.
Does he want to return to Kentucky? Does he want to wait and see if the job opens? Or is he simply just happy to be at Tulane? He certainly left the door open with Sunday’s comments.
“Could that change? I mean, I don’t know. If some newspaper tripled your salary, you might go. I’m just saying,” Sumrall said. “I don’t know. I’m very happy, other than the fact we’ve lost the last 2 games. I’m pissed off about that.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
