The Tulane Green Wave passing defense may take more emphasis this season as experience was prioritized in the secondary.
The Tulane Green Wave football team, like every team in college football nowadays, has to make decisions where to funnel their NIL resources.
While some Power Four programs are able to basically build their teams at will, for a Group of 6 program like the Green Wave, prioritizations need to be made.
For Tulane last season, that saw most of the resources go towards the trenches on both sides of the ball.
There was no flashy wide receiver transfer like LSU Tigers’ Destyn Hill this season, or big secondary addition like 6-foot-1, 187-pounds Macho Stevenson, a new defensive back from the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
A ton of resources were put towards the defensive line. For a lot of coaches, the philosophy is simple: the best passing defense is a pass rush.
And that worked considerably for the Wave at times last season.
When they played against the North Texas Mean Green in the American Conference championship, that was evident with a largely stifled running game for the Mean Green and five sacks on quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
However, then they met the Ole Miss Rebels for a second time again in the College Football Playoff, and that pass rush defense really ran out.
When that happened, the passing defense faltered and couldn’t hold up against the quickness and athleticism of the Rebels’ receiving corps.
So that’s always the Catch-22 with putting resources on the front end without shoring up in the secondary.
Will that be the case again for the Green Wave this season? Their moves in the portal and retention indicate not so much.
For one, they retained free safety Jack Tchienchou to anchor the secondary as a leader. Kevin Adams, who backed up Bailey Despanie last season, is likely looking to slot in alongside him.
E’zaiah Shine returns at cornerback and, unlike last season, he’ll have the experience under his belt.
Both Shine and defensive back Jahiem Johnson who started opposite of him had never done so before at the collegiate level.
So, while Tulane lost a lot of members of their defensive line, they gain experience on the backend.
That includes the aforementioned Robinson, who will be looking to compete at that other slot opposite Shine.
At Spear, there could be some competition between returner TJ Smith and newcomer Kajuan Banks, who transferred from the USF Bulls after being their starting nickel in the 2024 season.
How those pieces shape out remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the resources strategy is changing a bit this time as new coach Will Hall and his coaching staff emphasize coverage.
