After two terrific seasons at Troy, former UK assistant Jon Sumrall is on the move

Jon Sumrall is going back to … Tulane.

Believed to be the top candidate at Kentucky had Mark Stoops left last week for the opening at Texas A&M, Sumrall accepted an offer Friday to become the new head coach at Tulane.

“This is a landmark day for Tulane football,” new Tulane athletic director David Harris said. “Jon’s passion for the game is unmatched and I really felt that in meeting him. The Green Wave will be in good hands under his leadership.”

The 41-year-old Sumrall went a dazzling 23-4 as the head coach at Troy the past two seasons. After leaving his alma mater of UK, where he served as linebackers coach and then co-defensive coordinator under Mark Stoops, Sumrall led the Trojans to a 12-2 and a No. 19 finish in the AP Top 25 last season. After a 1-2 start this season, Troy won 10 straight games, including a 49-23 victory over Appalachian State in the Sun Belt championship game.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Sumrall played linebacker and was a graduate assistant for Rich Brooks. He joined former Brooks assistant Ron Caragher at San Diego in 2007. In 2012, he joined new head coach Curtis Johnson at Tulane, where Sumrall was co-defensive coordinator.

He rejoined old teammate Neal Brown at Troy in 2015 — the Trojans were 25-13 during Sumrall’s time as an assistant coach there — before Matt Luke hired Sumrall at Ole Miss in 2018. The following season, Stoops lured Sumrall back to Lexington, where he proved to be a terrific recruiter and coach.

It was no different with Sumrall as a head coach. In March, Troy awarded its football coach a contract extension through 2026, raising his salary to $1 million per year. By contrast, Tulane coach Willie Fritz made $2.8 million last season before leaving to replace Dana Holgorsen at Houston.

Sumrall will reportedly receive a six-year contract. His introductory press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday.

Thanks to Fritz, Sumrall walks into a program that experienced one of college football’s best turnarounds in 2022 when the Green Wave went from 2-10 to 12-2, including a 46-45 victory over Southern Cal in the Cotton Bowl. Tulane was 11-2 this season after losing to SMU in the American Athletic Conference title game.

Sumrall was reported to be a finalist for the Duke job, which went to Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, former head coach at Miami. Diaz replaces Mike Elko, who left Durham to become the head coach at Texas A&M.

And the Texas A&M job is the one that Stoops reportedly was in line to receive back on Nov. 25 after UK defeated Louisville 38-31 for the Governor’s Cup for a fifth straight year. After a last minute change of heart, either by Stoops or by the Aggies, Stoops announced he was staying in Lexington.

Before that announcement, Sumrall was believed to be at the top of UK’s list of replacement. Instead, he’ll be returning to New Orleans.

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