FIRE HARRIS AND HALL

The names change. The philosophy does not.

Over four seasons Tulane won 43 games, won conference championships, beat USC in the Cotton Bowl and reached the College Football Playoff. Leadership's job was simple: preserve it, institutionalize it, build on it. Instead, the old pattern of retreat came back.

• Sumrall walked. Before he left, New Orleans sports journalist Garland Gillen asked what David Harris was doing to keep him. Citing his sources, his answer was: “Not much.” Less than a month later, Sumrall was at Florida.
• The search missed. Tulane chased LSU defensive coordinator and former Tulane player Blake Baker. Baker stayed at LSU, and three days later Tulane promoted from within. That's a failure to plan for succession.
• It's not just football. In 2025–26, baseball finished last in the American, women's basketball finished near the bottom, and men's basketball was under .500 in conference play again.
• Even the basics broke. The Yulman game clock failed during the nationally televised 2025 Duke game (“CLOCK OUTAGE — OFFICIAL TIME ON FIELD”), and the 2026 South Alabama home stream on ESPN+ had video blackouts and audio failures.
• The ambition gap. In August 2025, Harris described Tulane's goal as being among the top Group of 5 programs. Tulane brings in about $66 million a year in athletics revenue; the average ACC department brings in about $160 million. Being the best in the lower tier is not a way out of it.

We believe the program is headed in the wrong direction, and that starts at the top. We're calling on Tulane leadership to make a change: replace Athletic Director David Harris and Head Football Coach Will Hall.

Points and quotes above are adapted from the “Declaration of No Confidence in Tulane Athletics Leadership” petition on Change.org, used with credit to its author.

We demand and expect championships, striving for Power 4 membership.

Firing Harris and Hall isn't the finish line. It's the first step toward winning titles again and getting Tulane into a Power 4 conference.

Conference realignment isn't over, and Tulane is already being mentioned as a candidate for the next round of ACC expansion. Being mentioned isn't the same as being ready. Tulane needs a funded, Board-approved Power 4 plan, and an athletic director hired to carry it out, not to decide whether we should have one.