The Green Wave are selling recruits on real snaps, upward trajectory, and a culture that can compete with Power Four NIL offers.
The Tulane Green Wave are resolidifying themselves as a powerhouse on the recruiting trail – something that didn’t exactly need to be defended. But with them being up to at least 13 recruits in their 2027 class alone, it shows a strong commitment to future success.
In today’s age of college football, it can be rather easy to get wrapped up and obsessive in the transfer portal, trying so hard to win now that future squads are completely neglected. At this point, the transfer portal won’t build rosters past a season or two. If a program has any hope of wanting players to stick around, it certainly helps if they’re able to get in and develop them from the beginning.
And in today’s age of NIL, it’s arguably easier to just lean into it and use it as a part of the pitch, and it’s hard to imagine the Green Wave not just utilizing their own NIL funds at their disposal for recruiting pitches, but also the reality of what’s out there elsewhere in a year or two.
It’s a bit naïve for Group of Five programs to expect to keep their elite players for their entire college careers, but the question is whether or not that bothers coaches and staff at this point, or whether it can become an asset if they’re able to pitch it correctly.
It’s simple: most guys who can start or have playing time at Tulane won’t be at the top of the depth chart in the SEC. But a few years with real snaps and real time in a collegiate locker room might change things for some of these guys.
It’s the same way in which a lot of guys in the transfer portal come from SEC programs that they weren’t seeing the field at at all, and they come down to the G5 level to get some crucial playing experience, such as Shazz Preston. And yes, Preston left, but does that mean programs would trade the years in which they got to enjoy his talent?
Most would say no, and that’s a real asset as a pitch if a program is willing to lean into it, and that must trickle down into the recruiting trail as well for commits who might be weighing big Power Four offers and maybe a slightly bigger NIL purse.
But Tulane offers solid NIL, playing opportunity, a real culture, and a trajectory upwards. It’s unsurprising to see that all pay off on the recruiting trail.
