Tulane Facing Hard Truths of Finding a True Starting Quarterback

The Tulane Green Wave are living through the harsh reality of not having an answer at starting quarterback ahead of a season-defining matchup against the Memphis Tigers.

It’s worth pointing out an element of luck in their last three signal callers.

Michael Pratt was heavily underrecruited out of high school and ended up being one of the best in Green Wave history after being thrown in midseason as a true freshman off the bench and starting for three more seasons. He was, importantly, recruited by Hall.

Then Darian Mensah was buried on the depth chart and was only there in the first place because former head coach Willie Fritz’s son and director of player personnel Wes Fritz discovered his highlight videos on TikTok and X.

Jake Retzlaff broke the Church Educational System Honor Code at a school owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ended up walking on in late July as a result.

Former coach Jon Sumrall, admittedly, got lucky two seasons in a row.

But there has to be an awareness of the element and role that luck played in the last two starters especially. NIL resources went to guys like Ty Thompson, and the presumed starter last year, Brendan Sullivan, until Retzlaff dropped out of the sky.

The room this season has simply been a disappointment, and time has really run out to find answers there.

Does Tulane trot out their third starter in six weeks for non-injury reasons?

Hall was notably mum to media, and there’s no strategic benefit to revealing the starter. He should absolutely keep the Tigers guessing and preparing for multiple.

It's hard to think of a more unceremonious welcome to the league moment than being thrown in as a true freshman against the top dogs in the conference with arguably the season on the line.

There’s no way to sugarcoat a potential starting debut for Trace Johnson.

But what we’ve seen so far is simply uninspiring. It’s frankly a bit hard to judge a half of Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, but Kadin Semonza has had time to get things going.

He wasn’t the reason the Green Wave lost to the Army Black Knights. He didn’t exactly drag them kicking and screaming downfield in spite of the dysfunction.

The play simply hasn’t been good enough at quarterback, and Hall really acknowledged that on Tuesday while putting that responsibility on himself.

He did reveal his three evaluation factors in the role: doing what they’re told to do, protecting the football, and making some off schedule plays.

That third trait is what breeds true greatness of out quarterbacks. But that first one is a straightforward requirement to the role.

The turnovers haven’t exactly been on the quarterback. But if factors one and three are in the air, now could be the time to turn to the quarterback with the least experience but highest upside.