Tulane Football Resumes Spring Practice Indoors, but Not Uptown

New Orleans, La. – The Tulane Green Wave football team resumed spring practice following a 12-day hiatus for Spring break. They conducted their seventh practice session of the 18-total at the New Orleans Saints practice facility due to inclement weather. Now, it begged the fair question of why the Green Wave team is still using the Saints’ indoor facilities when the indoor practice bubble was built for this purpose. Will Hall told reporters after practice that the camera wells aren’t yet built for filming practice, which is certainly important.

It’s also simply a 65-yard field, and it makes it hard to entirely conduct spring sessions the way a coach would like to. As spring has gone on, it’s starting to feel more important than in years’ past. When looking at how a roster is built now, the recent elimination of the second portal window changed everything in that regard. Previously, spring camp was arguably a wash for 50% of the team and efforts, as that many would transfer out and would need to be replaced. It did also offer the ability to fill holes that become apparent through practice, even in spots where players aren’t hitting the portal.

For example, Tulane has a quarterback competition right now that’s currently going quite well, but if it was a room of lame ducks, they’d be in real trouble. So there’s now a real challenge to place all importance on the December portal. But now the team is set, so questions can start being answered much sooner. That makes spring have a greater sense of urgency, once where positional battles could be finished much sooner this time. Whichever quarterback wins the competition is on the roster. They’ll be throwing to the pass catchers that are catching their passes now in March and April. So, maybe once more questions are answered in fall camp, and once New Orleans’ practice facility becomes much less available, the practice bubble will suffice then.

It seems like it’s going to be used for unexpected rain, but really thunder and lighting, at this point, or on days where the facility in Metairie is being used by the pro team who owns it. The Saints won’t resume practice until their offseason workouts begin on April 20, which is the start date for clubs with returning head coaches. At this moment, the bubble feels like a somewhat wasted resource. The parameters simply weren’t there to build a bigger field.

But seasons can come down to luck. That can apply to injuries, the bounce of a football, or a ref call. In the city of New Orleans, that’s the only way to predict weather here. In former coach Jon Sumrall’s two seasons with the Green Wave, there weren’t really many practices rained out at all, or at least ones that weren’t forecasted and dealt with in advance, either by going to Metairie or the Superdome. In the year they won the Cotton Bowl, it felt like they did so in spite of the weather Uptown trying to keep them off the field.

In addition to several soggy contests, there were a considerable number of practices that year where the sky suddenly darkened, and a lightning bolt forced everyone under the stadium. There’s a 30-minute timer that resets every time there’s a lightning strike. Another thing that feels luck-based; it always feels like it happens on the 28th minute. Either due to unexpected forecasts, or no room in the Saints facilities, several practices were cut short. That is when the bubble will come in handy.