NEW ORLEANS — Tulane has decided to fill its coaching vacancy with Troy's Jon Sumrall, who like his predecessor has posted consecutive seasons with more than 10 wins.
Sumrall is replacing Willie Fritz, who left Tulane after eight seasons on Sunday to take over at Houston.
The 41-year-old Sumrall has gone 23-4 at Troy the past two seasons, winning back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championships. Now he'll take over a program that also won 23 games and one American Athletic Conference title during the past two seasons.
Sumrall reportedly had been a candidate for the Duke job that went to Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.
Sumrall, who played linebacker at Kentucky, also was seen as a potential candidate there if Mike Stoops had gotten the Texas A&M job that wound up going to Duke's Mike Elko.
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Sumrall oversaw a dramatic turnaround at Troy, which had three straight losing seasons before his hiring in December 2021.
His mission at Tulane will be to extend what has been the Green Wave's best two-year stretch in nearly a century.
Daniels, Wilson add awards
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels continued to collect postseason awards when the honors were handed out Friday night.
Daniels, named The Associated Press player of the year on Thursday, won the Davey O'Brien Award as the top quarterback in college football, and Payton Wilson of North Carolina State won the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player.
Daniels, a San Bernardino, California, native who transferred to LSU from Arizona State in 2022, led the nation in total offense this season with 4,946 yards in 12 games (412.2 yards per game). He passed for 3,812 yards, third nationally and his 40 TDs passing tied for first with Oregon QB Bo Nix, who played in one more game than Daniels.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Daniels also rushed for 1,134 yards and 10 TDs. His 50 touchdowns rushing and passing combined, along with a 2-point conversion on a passing play, made him responsible for a nation-high 302 points.
Wilson was involved in 138 tackles for the Wolfpack with six sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
Harrison won the Bilitnikoff Award as the top receiver, Graham Nicholson of Miami (Ohio) won the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker, and T’Vondre Sweat of Texas won the Outland Trophy as the outstanding interior lineman.
Earlier this offseason, Notre Dame's Xavier Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the top defender in college football.
USC's Rice declares for draft, Georgia's Mews enters transfer portal
Southern California receiver Brenden Rice will forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.
The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice made the announcement Friday on social media.
Rice was seventh nationally with 12 receiving touchdowns. He also had 45 receptions for 791 yards and averaged 17.6 yards per catch. He was at Colorado in 2020 and '21 before spending the past two seasons at USC.
Elsewhere, Mekhi Mews, who came to Georgia as a walk-on and carved out a significant role on offense and special teams, has entered the transfer portal.
The receiver and punt returner played in all 13 games this season, finishing with 13 receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown.
Mews ranked 18th nationally in punt returns with a 10.2-yard average, including a 69-yard TD against Ball State. He also split kick return duties with Dillon Bell, averaging 26.8 yards.
