Everything David Harris Said -- And Didn't Say -- In Recent Statement to Fans

Following the Tulane Green Wave's horrific 60-10 loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane over the weekend, Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair David Harris released a quick statement to fans.

Now that everyone has had a chance to read it and digest it, let's take a look at exactly what it said.

Harris repeatedly expressed his own frustrations and disappointments in the letter, referring to the loss as "unacceptable" and "far below the standard that we have come to expect in recent years."

"I understand the frustration and disappointment that our supporters feel," Harris said. "I am embarrassed by what transpired on the field in front of our student-athletes' families, alumni, fans and the entire Tulane community." 

On one hand, Harris acknowledging upfront just how badly the program has been performing every year was a bit of a welcome surprise. It's not necessarily typical of an athletic director to call out shortcomings within his own department, especially since he is responsible for hiring the head coach.

At the same time, Harris' solution to the problem was something that should have been done back in September.

"With at least three games remaining in our season, our responsibility is to respond with urgency," Harris said. "Our student-athletes and staff have owned what happened, will evaluate it thoroughly and show meaningful improvement in the work ahead." 

Why wasn't the Green Wave "responding with urgency" before now? Though the point differential was unlike anything that Tulane has faced this season, the team has had many of the same struggles throughout the year without showing much improvement. Why wait until now to acknowledge a problem that has been glaringly evident all year? It felt like the statement truly lacked action behind it.

Most seem to believe that the Will Hall hire was a mistake, and that changes need to be made sooner rather than later. The performance of the team this year gives Harris more than enough of a reason to move on from him, but so far, there's been no commitment to that. Given his past decisions, it's unlikely that Harris would relieve a coach of his duties in the middle of his first season -- and if he chose to do so, he probably would choose to issue a departmental press release rather than his own personal statement.

It just doesn't seem like this can drag out much longer, especially since the consequences of the hire are already playing out in Uptown. There's no telling what choice Harris will make at the end of the year.

As of now, all Tulane can do is focus on what's ahead and see how things play out through the final month of the season. That starts against the Rice Owls on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.