As another Tulane football season looks like it is headed for disappointment, perhaps it is time that we begin to look elsewhere for solutions.

While some of Tulane’s biggest academic recruiting areas are the Northeast, Pacific Coast and Midwest, there are only five players on the current football roster from outside of the Southeast. Though a dramatic shift in recruiting tactics would require investing significant resources, there is a bevy of talent spread across regions where Tulane has brand recognition.

The athletic department, and the football team especially, need to capitalize on that opportunity.

The Southeastern states currently have 40 percent of the top 100 potential college recruits, with 91 percent of that subsection of recruits staying in the South for college. Tulane football certainly knows how deeply-concentrated the talent is in the Deep South, as the vast majority of the current football players on the Green Wave roster are from Louisiana, Florida or Texas. The issue lies with competition.

Many of the strongest college football programs in the nation are located in the Deep South. That means Tulane’s recruiting strategy requires direct competition with the best programs in the nation, sacrificing potential recruiting success for convenience and accessibility.

By contrast, more than 13 percent of Tulane’s overall student body is from the Pacific Coast, and close to the same percent of Division I football recruits are from the region. Yet there is only one player on the current football roster from the Pacific Coast.

Similarly, roughly 11 percent of the Tulane student body is from the Midwest, and a nearly similar percentage of Division I recruits are from that region. Again, there is one player on the roster from the region.

While only nine percent of potential recruits from the Southeast leave the region, 23 percent from the Midwest and 20 percent from the West leave to go elsewhere in the country when make their college choices.

Going forward, Tulane football needs to capitalize on the willingness of recruits to leave their home region and lesser recruiting competition elsewhere in the country by going for areas where Tulane is already a well-known academic brand.