Tulane University football’s 2024 season certainly didn’t have the “Cinderella” ending we all hoped it would. While transferring and coaching rumors took up a majority of the headlines, the team suffered terrible losses to the United States Military Academy Black Nights in the conference championship game and, later, to the University of Florida Gators in the Gasparilla Bowl.
Following the defeat in the conference championship game, those transfer rumors came to fruition, and players wasted no time testing the open market and hitting the transfer portal. With the 2025 season beginning just a few days ago with introductory meetings and practices, the Green Wave roster looks almost completely different.
Luckily, we’re here to help you navigate the tumultuous college football offseason. Let’s start by going through the key losses suffered at the hands of the portal.
The first major name to hit the portal was breakout redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah. Mensah wasted no time, reaching an agreement with the Duke University Blue Devils worth up to $8 million over two years.
Mensah wasn’t the only significant loss on offense for the Green Wave. Star running back Makhi Hughes agreed to a deal with the University of Oregon on Jan. 7. Just a few days earlier, starting tight end Alex Bauman transferred to the University of Miami.
Outside of the stars, Tulane has also lost a lot of its depth offensively. Running back Shaadie Clayton-Johnson entered the portal on Dec. 17 and has yet to make a decision. Wide receiver Khai Prean also entered the portal, making the receiving group even thinner since Dontae Flemming and Mario Williams are set to graduate this spring and enter the NFL draft.
Key defensive losses include defensive lineman Parker Peterson, who committed to the University of Wisconsin, and edge rusher Matthew Fobbs-White, who committed to Baylor University after finishing his career at Tulane with three forced fumbles and 24 total tackles after two seasons.
To compensate for the quarterback vacancy after Mensah’s departure, Kai Horton entering the portal and Ty Thompson’s move to tight end, Tulane brought in three different quarterbacks. The first is three-star Donovan Leary from the University of Illinois. The next is redshirt freshman Kadin Semonza out of Ball State University, and the third is DJ Finley out of Western Kentucky University. The three rank 79th, 64th and 63rd, respectively, on the 247Sports Transfer Portal quarterback rankings and are sure to be in open competition for next year’s starting spot.
Other notable offensive additions consist of Zuberi Mobley and Omari Haynes, three-star running back and wide receiver from Florida Atlantic University. Tulane also got a pair of playmakers from the University of Louisville, with running back Maurice Turner and receiver Jimmy Calloway committing to the Green Wave. Receiver Anthony Brown Stephens, out of the University of Kentucky, and former University of Maryland tight end Leron Husbands add much-needed depth to this new offensive unit.
Defense is where Tulane made the biggest splash in the portal. A name we love is edge rusher Harvey Dyson out of Texas Tech University, who finished last season with 12 tackles and two sacks. Another notable edge rusher is Maurice Westmoreland, out of the University of Texas at El Paso, who had 46 tackles and eight sacks last season. The Green Wave also got more linebacker depth, signing three-star Dallas Winner-Johnson, Jordan Hall and Jack Hollifield.
With all of these new additions, early practices will reveal which players stand out and which positions need improvement. With the transfer portal remaining open, we are not even close to being out of the woods.
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