Since the naming of Will Hallas Tulane's football coach, the comparisons between him and now Florida head coach Jon Sumrallhave spewed far and wide. Most of these are not just unfair, they're wrong. However, the most inaccurate of all the comparisons are the ones that point out the contrasts between Hall and his predecessor, putting Hall in a hole he can never dig himself out of.
Jon Sumrall was truly a joy to be around at the Tulane head coach. He was a quote machine. He would say the right things at the right time almost all the time. He was welcoming to all media, joking with us consistently, giving us information that most coaches would never divulge and asking us to not let it out, which we wouldn't, setting up a trusting relationship amongst what some coaches think as an adversarial one.
After a win, he was not satisfied with where his team was. Though pointing out where his team succeeded, he would point out deficiencies quickly saying his team needed to improve.
After a loss, Sumrall would point to where his team needed improvement and say it began with him and his coaches.
This past Saturday, a week after drubbing a very good Ole Miss team, Sumrall's Florida Gators were riding high heading into Missouri. Florida got drubbed. They didn't lose. There were gob-smacked. After the game, the effervescent Gator's coach said, "The fact that we put less than our best out there absolutely makes me freaking sick," and "There's going to be a lot of things that get called out." He went on to take the blame as coach of Florida. Look at this five quotes story and see if what Sumrall says sounds familiar.
To anyone who has followed Sumrall, this should sound like something they've heard before. You only have to go back a year. Remember UTSA? The Alamodome? After his Wave were pummeled by the Roadrunners, he said, "I asked our guys to look in the mirror as we go through this and figure out what we can all do to be better" and "Starts with me. Ends with me. Like I got to have the team ready to play better,"
This is not meant as a knock on Jon Sumrall, not by any stretch of the imagination. His time in Uptown should be treasured. The way he left the program is a model for any coach who takes another job.
Despite what some may say, he was not going to stay at Tulane and never was. His ambition, his goal, was to be the head coach in the Southeastern Conference. Period. Nothing Tulane could have done, short of moving back into the SEC, would have kept him here for the long haul.
And to compare what Tulane does and most importantly can do, to the depth of capabilities a major public university can do and does is, again, unfair and downright ignorant of the situation college sports finds itself.
Now to Will Hall, or any coach who would take on the mantle of head coach after Sumrall.
When Hall was chosen, Sumrall praised the Tulane administration for their choice. He didn't have to do that. He could have just said nice things and moved on. Nope. Sumrall said, "I'm excited for Will, I think the program is in great hands"
The hiring was for continuity's sake, said the administration. I understand, but Hall is not the same as Sumrall. He never has been.
Sumrall would crack jokes, play with the media and fans, be the fun guy that everybody loves to be around. Though born in Texas and raised an Alabaman, he felt like he had sophistication. You know what I mean. He didn't feel like he was from Alabama.
Hall is a Mississippi guy through and through. His adages come straight from his background. Though humorous, they are not from someone who has that big city feel. Hall has that...you know...accent, like he's from Mississippi. If people are honest with themselves, that is something New Orleanians do not deal with well. I don't say this to be judgmental of New Orleanians, seeing as I am one. I say it because it is what I have seen over the ages in this city I love.
Just watching a practice session shows a diverse difference. Hall is involved all over the field, coaching techniques constantly, giving feedback to players one-on-one, especially on the offensive side. Sumrall would let his assistant coaches do almost all of that, preferring to stand back and watch for the most part. Two different people, two different ways of approaching coaching.
Since Hall is different in so many ways, he is wrong.
He had that time at Southern Miss (to some Tulane people, the red-headed stepchild of rivalries).
He has those sayings.
He changes his mind too much.
He doesn't change things up enough.
He doesn't focus on this part or doesn't focus enough on that.
In some people's minds, Hall can never be the right guy, because he never was. At the same time, those folks never game him a chance before he even started.
None of these points make me a worshiper of Will Hall. It has to do with equity: that Hall has the equal opportunity to succeed or fail on his own accord, not on anything else. Judging someone before they've ever coached a game at Tulane is not just inequitable, it is shortsighted. Assessing a coach after one game, or two games, or three games is not just shortsighted, it is something I would not want anyone, athletic director on down, to do to a coach. If David Harris would have done this, the way some would have him do, then he would be just as improvident as those who want this to happen.
Is Will Hall the coach for Tulane, leading the Green Wave into the future? There are those who know, as a matter of fact (in their minds), that Hall is a debacle and that those that hired him are the same. Then there are those who say to give Hall a chance and point to the hires that have been made in the past by this administration that are showing movement of the entire athletic program in the right direction. Think volleyball, cross country, track & field, Sumrall, and more.
I don't think I will ever get those anti-Will Hall people to give him any chance at all at being a successful head coach at Tulane. I believe there are those who do not wish him good will. In fact, they want him to fail miserably, some even at the cost of the football program they profess to support. I am not suggesting blind faith. This isn't a religion.
However, I do ask that the canonization of Jon Sumrall stop. Tulane had the grace to have him for a couple of years. Move on, people, and give the next guy a bit of a chance, no matter how close-minded you are.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tulane as Saint Jon Flubs, Hall Stuck in Purgatory .
