Tulane's new practice bubble faced criticism over field space, but it proved its value fast when lightning cut fall camp short.
New Orleans, La. – The Tulane Green Wave got quite a bit of flak for an indoor practice bubble that is slightly inefficient in terms of field space.
The value of that investment was immediately proved four days into fall camp when the Green Wave experienced lightning and had to call outdoor practice for what felt like the first time since Willie Fritz was the head coach pleading for said facilities.
About an hour into Day 4 of fall camp, there was a crack of thunder that sent the football team running off the field.
In 2022, they would have stood under the bleachers for an indeterminate amount of time until a 30-minute time cleared between the last lightning strike – sometimes halting practice short.
On Saturday, they lost about the five minutes it took to walk to Claiborne and head into the bubble for 7-on-7 and their final team drills and red zone work of the day.
The equipment team pulled off their first run through without a hitch.
“It was good to use, man,” coach Will Hall told reporters after practice. “It was good to have it. I though we transitioned so fast and got in here fast, was able to finish. What a blessing that we have it so we can do that. And I thought our defense had great energy once we got in here.”
When the team heads to the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility, there’s always a level of heightened energy and speed that comes along with it.
That same fiery nature showed up immediately in a team period that saw a few welcomed brawls and strong competition.
Frankly, it’s something you want to see show up at a point in camp to be sure of the physicality and aggressiveness – something that didn’t bother Hall at all.
“When you’ve got a good football team, you'll get into it from time to time,” Hall said. “We don't want a bunch of nice guys that don't fight. Now we got to handle it the right way once it does break out. But we're an aggressive physical football team.”
That type of play typically tends to lend itself towards defense, and that side of the ball definitely won the day with some strong sticky coverage and pass breakups to the frustration of the offense.
It was the second day with pads on, so the hits were hard, and it felt like the three levels of defense were really coming together to cap off the day.
And so ended the first week of Tulane’s training camp ahead of the season.
The quarterback competition is in a bit of a deadlock, and one hopes that one begins to start stacking some days as they head into week 2.
But it was very fitting to end the first week of camp using the facilities that weren’t obviously worth the investment up front.
The bubble won’t suffice as a full indoor facility, and it won’t replace the availability and space that the Saints facility offers.
But with so many questions to answer across the team, losing out on valuable practice is just unfeasible.
The bubble immediately proved its worth.
