The new head coach of the Tulane University football team, Will Hall, addressed members of the media and public Tuesday morning in the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Family Club, marking his official introduction at the head of the Green Wave.
Hall is taking the wheel from former head coach Jon Sumrall, who will leave Tulane after the College Football Playoff to take up a post as head coach at the University of Florida.
Hall, a Mississippi native, served as the Green Wave’s offensive coordinator from 2019-2020 and the team’s passing coordinator for this season. Between those stints, he worked as head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he had a 14-30 record before being let go.
Tulane had looked to hire Louisiana State University defensive coordinator Blake Baker, but the Tigers retained him with a $2.5 million contract.
“I know that I wasn’t the first choice for some people in here, but I can promise you this: I am the best choice and the right choice for this place at this time,” Hall said.
Staying the course
Hall plans to build off of the work done by former head coaches Willie Fritz and Jon Sumrall.
“We will keep Willie Fritz’s famous mantra, ‘recruit, retain, develop,’” Hall said. As offensive coordinator, Hall helped develop quarterback Michael Pratt, who holds the all-time record for passing yards on the Green Wave.
On the field, Hall said he wants to keep the pro-style offense of offensive coordinator Joe Cradock while increasing its tempo and placing an emphasis on quarterbacks.
“Tulane attracts great quarterbacks,” Hall said. “We will be a quarterback-driven program.”
Defensively, Hall wants to keep Tulane’s aggressive defense, which averaged 2.62 sacks and 6.2 tackles for loss per game in the 2025 season. “We’ll be an attacking style defense that gets ahead in the chains, and then be great situational masters with multiple fronts up front on the line of scrimmage,” Hall said.
Building men of character
Another big theme of the press conference was ensuring players become the best versions of themselves off the field.
“We will keep Jon’s four core values: attitude, toughness, discipline and love,” Hall said.
Tulane’s new head coach said he wants to shape his players into “better husbands, fathers and leaders in their community.”
“I believe you impact everybody you touch every day,” Hall said. “We’ll build a culture and environment that helps them figure out what is next for them with life without football.”
Position coaches will take active roles in ensuring their players complete their degrees, Hall said. In May of 2025, Tulane football had an academic progress rate — a metric used by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to track the academic performance of teams — of 986. The national average for football is 964.
The program’s pick
Most of the college football world met Will Hall’s appointment with doubt. He successfully led two schools as a head coach at the Division II level, but his poor performance at Southern Mississippi brings into question his ability to compete at the Division I level.
For the Green Wave, Hall’s selection over other candidates, including Kennesaw State University head coach Jerry Mack and former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, shows an emphasis on building on the work of Fritz and Sumrall.
Jon Sumrall took the job at Florida late into a particularly tough coaching carousel, which has seen the top job at 27 different D1 football bowl schools change, leaving Tulane scrambling to find a replacement.
Hall ducked questions about why he was not the first choice for head coach, but it seems the players themselves advocated for Hall to get the job.
“I had a group of student athletes come to my office to talk specifically about Coach Hall,” David Harris, Ben Weiner director of athletics chair, said.
Coach Sumrall’s insight and input were also critical for the selection process, Harris said.
Looking forward
One of the first tasks facing Hall is figuring out his coaching staff.
“I’m not ready to name names, but I can tell you, we’re in a really good spot right now. We’re moving in a great direction,” Hall said.
Two of the most prominent assistant coaches who have opportunities beyond New Orleans are Joe Craddock, the offensive coordinator, and Greg Gasparato. Hall said both Craddock and Gasparato would make excellent head coaches, but the focus for now remains on the University of Mississippi.
A program on the rise
Whether Tulane can sustain its meteoric rise in college football remains to be seen. For the past four years, Tulane has made the conference championship and this year, the Green Wave has, for the first time in program history, made the College Football Playoff.
The enthusiasm for Tulane football among students has risen to match the program’s performance.
“When I was here in ‘19, the only great crowd we had was Tulsa with homecoming,” Hall said. “To see that student section like it was the other night, like it’s been several times this year, I love them.”
For now, all eyes are on Oxford, Mississippi, where the Green Wave will take on the Rebels for a chance at advancing in the playoffs.
“I hate wasting time, and we’re going to attack it every day to help make them winners on the field and off the field,” Hall said. “But first, let’s go to Oxford to win a football game.”