With aggressive moves in the transfer portal, second-year Tulane coach Jon Sumrall appears to have revamped his roster well enough to make the Green Wave an American Conference favorite again -- although Navy, Army, UTSA, Memphis or South Florida could have something to say about that.
Tulane went through an offseason of roster upheaval and uncertainty after appearing in its third straight league title game in 2024.
With 52% of Tulane’s roster comprised of players who never previously wore a Green
Wave uniform, Sumrall concedes that his team entered August camp with “a lot of uncertainty” about which transfers or recruits might emerge as prominent players.
“None of them were guaranteed a starting anything,” Sumrall said, referring to a transfer class that included ex-Appalachian State defensive tackle Santana Hopper, edge rusher Mo Westmorland from UTEP and running back Maurice Turner from Louisville. “All of them were offered an opportunity to compete.”
Tulane's roster losses after last season included starting quarterback Darian Mensah transferring to Duke and star running back Makhi Hughes leaving for Oregon.
Sumrall responded by bringing in four transfer QBs, including Jake Retzlaff, who won 11 games as a starter for BYU last season. Running back Arnold Barnes, a promising backup to Hughes last season, will compete for carries with Turner.
Tulane has just five returning starters on offense and defense combined, but all received preseason all-conference recognition from various college football publications.
“While we don’t maybe have a huge number of guys that have played a lot of football for us, the ones that are returning, they’re legitimate, steady guys that you can depend on,” Sumrall said.
Navy was blown out 35-0 at home by Tulane last season. That, however, was more of an anomaly for the Midshipmen, whose 10-3 record included a victory over American Conference champion Army in the Army-Navy game, followed by a comeback victory over Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl.
“There’s been a little bit of a paradigm shift in our program and just what our expectations are," Navy coach Brian Newberry said. "There’s a different level of confidence.”
Crucially, Navy again will feature dual-threat QB Blake Horvath, who led an offense that averaged 31.3 points per game in its first season under offensive coordinator Drew Cronic — who, too, has returned.
“I don’t think there’s a better fit in the country for me than this system and our offense," Horvath said.
Navy also returns a top defender in nose tackle Landon Robinson, who says the spike in preseason hype the Midshipmen are getting has led them to adopt the motto: “Don’t choke on the sugar.” Newberry sounds gratified by his players' determination not to rest on recent success.
“I’ve got a good feeling about this team, outside of the returning production, just who we are, the chemistry," he said. “Leadership is really pervasive and our guys have worked their tails off.”
South Florida's high hopes for 2024 took a hit when QB Byrum Brown went down in Week 5 (against Tulane) with a foot injury.
Brown returns healthy this season behind an experienced offensive line and again has one of his favorite downfield targets back in receiver Keshaun Singleton. That gives the Bulls, who won seven games last season, a chance to have one of the top offenses in the league.
Following the departure of UTSA all-time passer Frank Harris at the end of the 2023 campaign, the Roadrunners wasted little time returning to relevance. Harris' successor, Owen McCown, passed for 3,424 yards and 25 touchdowns last season to help UTSA post a fifth-straight winning season. That's raised hopes of a sixth straight in 2025 — if the Roadrunner defense, which has no returning starters, can coalesce quickly into an effective unit.
Having two service academies among the league favorites gives the American more of an old-school feel than some other conferences.
Army and Navy players tend to stay put before moving on to military careers, rather than having agents shop them around to see what other schools are willing to pay for their skills.
“Not being impacted by the transfer portal or NIL, it really just builds the bonds between the guys,” Horvath said.
Or as Navy's Newberry put it, “We’re a unicorn. We still truly are a developmental program."
Trent Dilfer, a former Super Bowl-winning coach with the Baltimore Ravens, has found it tougher to contend for titles as coach at UAB. He's gone 7-17 in his first two seasons in Birmingham, putting him under mounting pressure to win with a team that has just three returning starters this season.
“I've made a lot of mistakes; I only want to make them once,” Dilfer said. “I have no idea how good we're going to be. ... I do know that structurally, leadership-wise, organizationally, confidence, presence — like, all those things — we are buttoned up and much more professional.”
Boise State at South Florida, Aug. 28; Northwestern at Tulane, Aug. 30; Duke at Tulane, Sept. 13; Army at Tulane, Oct. 18; Tulane at UTSA, Oct. 30; UTSA at South Florida, Nov. 6; Navy at Notre Dame, Nov. 8; South Florida at Navy, Nov. 15; Army at UTSA, Nov. 29; American Conference championship game, Dec. 5; Army vs. Navy, Dec. 13.
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