The Tulane Green Wave coaching staff under Will Hall features some key promotions of coaches that are crucial to a winning culture.
The Tulane Green Wave football coaching staff under new head coach Will Hall, and frankly, including Hall, shows that there’s a path for upwards professional success within the program, and that’s significant for retaining key staff. The notable examples are promoting linebackers coach Tayler Polk to defensive coordinator and assistant director of strength and conditioning Colin Kenyon to the director role. When Hall announced his mission statement and values as coach, they focused on four areas: academics, athletics, character, and future. While a lot of players want to play in the NFL, only 1.6% of college football players make it to the league. What the Green Wave have also done is show a path to professional success for their players.
Tulane announced a flurry of staff roles last week, including their new group of graduate assistants. It includes former quarterback Justin Ibieta, who is now entering his third season on the coaching staff now as a graduate assistant (GA) for tight ends. In addition, former wide receiver Bryce Bohanon, who just graduated after this season, is joining the GA staff with wide receivers. When former coach Jon Sumrall took over the program ahead of the Military Bowl, the team brought in former linebacker Nick Anderson in to coach that unit – and it pushed him back into wanting to play, eventually leading him to thrive in the CFL.
That all really makes a culture mean something when Hall has already shown promise for his player’s future in bringing on Bohanon. Bohanon is a perfect example of a player who did everything the right way despite not having the physical gifts and traits. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Bohanon spent his entire career at Tulane, from 2021 to 2025. He had 53 career receptions for 687 yards and two touchdowns. 31 of those catches, 417 of those yards, and both touchdowns came in his final season last year that was cut short by an injury. It’s rare to watch a player go from buried on the depth chart to a top option, but that’s exactly what Bohanon did in his final year by being a leader who set the standard and caught the attention of his head coach for doing so. He instantly translated into being active on the sidelines once he was injured and showed the right traits for a potential coach in the future.
It’s also important to look at the promotions of Polk and Kenyon as key coaches to retaining the culture and continuity of the program. It would’ve been easy for both to find roles on Sumrall’s staff, as he made room for a ton of them, or perhaps an elevated role elsewhere. But by giving a pathway to success with the Green Wave, it kept both and will likely entice others to stay in the future should those opportunities continue to exist.