The Tulane Green Wave reportedly have their next offensive line coach, one familiar with new head coach Will Hall.
The Tulane Green Wave have to replace quite a few assistant coaches that are departing with former coach Jon Sumrall’s staff. New Green Wave coach Will Hall has already made several moves to retain important position group coaches and replace one coordinator role with an internal promotion. As the Jan. 2 transfer portal date inches closer – where players can officially enter and also sign elsewhere – it’ll be critical to have as many staff members in place as possible.
Tulane has always been a team whose offense is powered by running the ball. The first step to that continuation was retaining running back Jamauri McClure and running backs coach Brock Hays. But that position will only go as far as the protection and blocking in front of it. Green Wave offensive line coach Evan McKissack is one of the coaches leaving with Sumrall to coach tight ends at Florida. In his place, Hall is reportedly bringing in a former Tulane staffer with significant SEC experience.
According to multiple reports, including Football Scoop, CBS Sports, and the coach himself on X, Cody Kennedy is set to be hired as the team’s next offensive line coach. Kennedy changed his X account bio to Green Wave OL Coach. It’ll be a reunion for Kennedy and Hall back to Tulane. Kennedy was the team’s o-line coach while Hall was the offensive coordinator in 2019. They had a school record 3,100-plus rushing yards and were in the top 15 nationally in rushing yards per game and total rush yards.
Hall took Kennedy to Southern Miss as the run game coordinator, but Kennedy ended up at Arkansas to be the offensive line coach under Sam Pittman. Kennedy became a Broyles Award semifinalist in 2021. The Razorbacks led the conference and were second in the nation in rush yards, averaging nearly 228 yards per game.
Kennedy then took the same job at Mississippi State under Jeff Lebby in the 2024 and spent one year there. But Kennedy has a storied history with Hall that made a reunion make a lot of sense, dating back to the Division II level. When Hall was the head coach at West Georgia, Kennedy was on his staff. Their team led the league in rushing and were in the top 20 at the Division II national level in yards per game and rushing touchdowns in the 2014 season.
So, Kennedy is certainly familiar with the system Hall wants to run, and this hire helps keep the offense poised to run it back in the American conference.